tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post8916785142119343570..comments2024-03-07T12:57:35.296-05:00Comments on Varieties of Unreligious Experience: An Unbridled TongueConrad H. Rothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-58586206213336035922009-08-11T04:22:21.733-04:002009-08-11T04:22:21.733-04:00I think you've done a brilliant job here. Sch...I think you've done a brilliant job here. Schkoach! (as shouted in synagogues after a Chazan has acquitted himself marvellously.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-22246010504183686682009-04-03T17:10:00.000-04:002009-04-03T17:10:00.000-04:00Really? I thought everyone was playing along.You o...<I>Really? I thought everyone was playing along.</I><BR/><BR/>You overestimate me.Raminagrobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008850757226541475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-9289575843347465492009-04-03T16:58:00.000-04:002009-04-03T16:58:00.000-04:00"the first four responses were marked prior to Apr..."the first four responses were marked prior to April 1"<BR/><BR/>That's OK---it was actually <EM>true</EM> on March 31.Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-59942508212872245682009-04-03T16:57:00.000-04:002009-04-03T16:57:00.000-04:00Ah, well since some assume that April fool's day i...Ah, well since some assume that April fool's day is a calendar confusion, it is worth noting that the first four responses were marked prior to April 1, and at least mine on the 3rd. What does it mean to play an April Fools joke on those in time out of joint? <BR/><BR/>Nicely done though, worthy of Borges.kvondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07709562524431261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-6820189499736319362009-04-03T16:53:00.000-04:002009-04-03T16:53:00.000-04:00"you got me"Really? I thought everyone was playing..."you got me"<BR/><BR/>Really? I thought everyone was playing along.Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-87400582153163861432009-04-03T15:11:00.000-04:002009-04-03T15:11:00.000-04:00if so, awe-full. At least you got me thinking abou...if so, awe-full. At least you got me thinking about griddles and Neoplatonism, not two things that go together often, no matter how pancaked Plotinus made his ontology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-30765681523860878052009-04-03T13:57:00.000-04:002009-04-03T13:57:00.000-04:00Was that original posting before 12 noon on 1st Ap...<I>Was that original posting before 12 noon on 1st April?</I><BR/><BR/>Hmm. I think you're onto something there.<BR/><BR/>Like all the best hoaxes, this seemed just about believable at first, but on reflection...<BR/><BR/>Nice one Conrad, you got me!Raminagrobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008850757226541475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-50130710422485981662009-04-03T12:33:00.000-04:002009-04-03T12:33:00.000-04:00Such a beautiful tracing. So nice. A small philoso...Such a beautiful tracing. So nice. <BR/><BR/>A small philosophical note of curiosity, born of your research:<BR/><BR/>"St Lawrence, you will recall, was that carefree fellow who, when he was griddled alive under Valerian in 258 AD, managed to mutter 'This side’s done, turn me over and have a bite,' thus displaying equanimity in the face of torture."<BR/><BR/>Unless I am incorrect, our delightful saint on the griddle had the presence of mind to give a little wordplay:<BR/><BR/>"Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca." (as quoted in Ambrose's De officiis ministrorum)<BR/><BR/>Can also be at least connotively translated, "I'm present (adsum), it consumes (edo), turn and eat"<BR/><BR/>For a Neoplatonist this meaning would have the greatest of meanings I would think. One's presence was be the condition to which one could not be consumed, and to the degree that one did consume, one would not be present. <BR/><BR/>Additionally, if indeed we would all be like larry if it were not for original sin, we not only would be at peace in our troubles, but playful punsters even in our agony.<BR/><BR/><BR/>More on happy larry, here, a early description of his martyrdom, Prudentius (@ 4th/5th century): <BR/><BR/>HYMNUS IN HONOREM PASSIONIS LAURENTII<BR/>http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/prudentius/prud2.shtmlkvondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07709562524431261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-5445073812437453912009-04-03T12:01:00.000-04:002009-04-03T12:01:00.000-04:00Was that original posting before 12 noon on 1st A...Was that original posting before 12 noon on 1st April?Gary Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17685379346941244115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-66116802311070191202009-04-01T23:17:00.000-04:002009-04-01T23:17:00.000-04:00Conrad, what I meant was that even the phrasing mi...Conrad, what I meant was that even the phrasing might have been floating around previously. But that's all pedantic nitpicking; as Z.D. pointed out, the discovery is remarkable in itself.Greg Afinogenovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529073439919307693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-14881142778184771942009-04-01T20:48:00.000-04:002009-04-01T20:48:00.000-04:00I think there is a play on words here since beatus...I think there is a play on words here since beatus in Latin means happy or blessed as well as sometimes being used for "saint."Suenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-21211069707091722122009-04-01T18:12:00.000-04:002009-04-01T18:12:00.000-04:00Simon, nnyhav, R, thanks. (The OED, pleasingly, li...Simon, nnyhav, R, thanks. (The OED, pleasingly, lists Beckett's "short for Lazarus".)<BR/><BR/>Greg, actually that was my suggestion, when I said that Eriugena "took a popular attribution of felicity to Lawrence (and Stephen, the first martyr)", i.e. that he did not invent it, but merely put into a form in which it could be later turned towards our "happy as Larry". As Z. D. says, and I think we all agree, Eriugena is very unlikely to have actually invented the idea.Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-11402468983510123302009-04-01T08:28:00.000-04:002009-04-01T08:28:00.000-04:00Brilliant!And there was me thinking Larry was shor...Brilliant!<BR/><BR/>And there was me thinking Larry was <A HREF="http://whenhernameyouwriteyoublot.blogspot.com/2006/07/happy-as-larry.html" REL="nofollow">short for Lazarus</A>...Raminagrobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008850757226541475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-47288516047264717652009-04-01T02:09:00.000-04:002009-04-01T02:09:00.000-04:00True enough, Z.D.True enough, Z.D.Greg Afinogenovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529073439919307693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-48542766520992617532009-03-31T23:48:00.000-04:002009-03-31T23:48:00.000-04:00Quite possible, Greg, but slightly beside the poin...Quite possible, Greg, but slightly beside the point for our purposes. There might be further sport in further antedating that simile—in any case, it's almost certain that Eriugena didn't think of it, from whole cloth, himself—but what has been rather ably and decisively concluded is the more answerable question, viz., which Larry are they all talking about?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-4938836605057047782009-03-31T22:09:00.000-04:002009-03-31T22:09:00.000-04:00But have you considered another possibility? Perha...But have you considered another possibility? Perhaps Eriugena was merely using a simile that had already become popular or at least well-known among the learned men of his time, assuming these existed. The usage as it appears here doesn't seem to have any organic connection with the content of the passage (although a sentence is insufficient to judge). So it's possible that this was like the eternally-popular reference to Athena being born fully-formed from Zeus's brow--a stable point of reference for a specific kind of situation.Greg Afinogenovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529073439919307693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-89047170406892234822009-03-31T21:36:00.000-04:002009-03-31T21:36:00.000-04:00Wotta lark! Makes me happy as Clem.Wotta lark! Makes me happy as Clem.nnyhavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181178492559547560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-53739557948118660662009-03-31T21:08:00.000-04:002009-03-31T21:08:00.000-04:00What a spectacular observation! I hope that you ha...What a spectacular observation! I hope that you have forwarded your discovery on to the OED?Simon Hollowayhttp://deba.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com