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
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Really? 'The Black Dog'?... Things...Never Said."
The Black Dog was Winston Churchill's name for the massive depression that sometimes took him over.
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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".
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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
Philadelphia, where he has just been elected Dog Catcher
Philadelphia is like Washington, D.C. at this time, where "rival packs of
wild dogs" existed in Against the Day at a later time. Against the Day Dogs rule?
another dog allusion which feeds the idea that "man's best friend" is almost like the humans in Pynchon's work.
whim-wham
WHIM-WHAM- A word from around the 16th century from which the word Whimsical was derived.
A whimsical decorative object or device.
A fantastic creation of the brain or hand.
