Chapter 51: 491-498
Page 493
his Soul's off God knows where
mind-body dualism [1]
and mind travel.The mind-body dichotomy is the starting point of Dualism, and became conceptualized in the form as it is currently known in the Western world in René Descartes philosophy, but also appeared in pre-Aristotelian concepts. wikipedia.
Descartes is a philosopher whom Thomas Pynchon has expressed negativity about in other works. See Against the Day.
what, in thy Absence, is doing the Staring for thee?
the philosophical "problem" of self-consciousness? With the mind off elsewhere, what is looking out of the mind's eyes?
what Verger of the Temple of the Self...?
verg·er (vûrjr)
NOUN:
Chiefly British
One who carries the verge or other emblem of authority before a scholastic, legal, or religious dignitary in a procession.
One who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies. American Heritage Dictionary
Page 494
Really? 'The Black Dog'?... Things...Never Said."
The Black Dog was Winston Churchill's name for the massive depression that sometimes took him over.
Page 495
of a certain farm animal?
a pig of course,perhaps Pynchon's favorite animal [see V.and other works] which, along with the Black Dog, is one of the Things That Are Never Said....and counterpointed to the Names of the Holy Trinity,"names most likely to matter".
Page 496
Sensorium
The term originally enters English from the Late Latin in the mid-17th century, from the stem sens- (see: sense).The term sensorium (plural: sensoria) refers to the sum of an organism's perception, the "seat of sensation" where it experiences and interprets the environments within which it lives.
In earlier use it referred, in a broader sense, to the brain as the mind's organ (Oxford English Dictionary 1989). In medical, psychological, and physiological discourse it has come to refer to the total character of the unique and changing sensory environments perceived by individuals. These include the sensation, perception, and interpretation of information about the world by senses, perceptual systems and minds (MedTerms 2001). wikipedia
