October 5, 2011

Dear Cyndy,

Thank you for your letter. No, you were not being scolded.  Scolding is not part of my repertoire.  I was simply stating, in my customary undiplomatic fashion, what was on my mind.  Contrary to your hypothesis, I'm not aware of being glum.

You ask about the house. On September 25, I reported to you about the very high water pressures caused by a defective switch. My initial estimate that the pressure had done no damage was wrong. The puddles of water on the basement floor which I thought had accumulated from the leaking toilet tank connections failed to dry, and last Friday I had to admit to myself that the hot water tank had sprung a leak. I replaced it the following day, but not without complications. After I had disconnected the cold water supply line to the tank I carelessly permitted it to drop, snapping the plastic PVC connection to which it was attached; next I overtightened a copper adapter inserted into the PVC fitting, fracturing the plastic. Mr. Ciarmataro's characterization of my "inferior workmanship" kept ringing in my ears, and I was glad he wasn't looking over my shoulder. Now however everything is repaired.  We have hot and cold running water. In addition I replaced an irreparably leaking kitchen faucet, and I repaired a dripping one in one of the bathrooms. My plumbing urge is at least temporarily satisfied. Meanwhile I have dislodged, using a 10 ft. 1/2" PVC pipe as my weapon a huge, the biggest I've ever seen, wasp nest pasted onto the soffit at the northeast corner of the house. The single wasp inhabitant, who did not attack me, reminded me of Margaret and myself as lone wasps in our huge house in Belmont. This afternoon we had a visit in our driveway from six wild turkeys. I stepped out, camera in hand, offering to take their pictures, but they declined. They were shy and disappeared into the underbrush.

Meanwhile I've been frantically adding to my novel, composing about 41 printed pages in the 18 or so days that we've been here.  I have no idea whether what I'm writing is any good, - there's that word again, - but I enjoy looking over what I've written.  Since I solicit no readers, I owe no apologies. In the most recent chapter (48), one of my protagonists, Maximilian Katenus, expounds his ideas about ethics. At this juncture, he's still a bit confused and my review of his ideas will be of benefit to him. Since you expressed an interest, you're invited so to speak to read over our shoulders.

An important initial issue is whether ethics should be descriptive and give an account of the manner in which human beings customarily act, or whether it should be prescriptive and tell human beings what they must do. Katenus claims that a purely prescriptive ethics loses its bonds to reality and becomes mere fantasy, invoking the familiar adage "Love thy neighbor as thyself" as a case in point.

A second issue is whether ethics should be individual or collective.  Etymologically, of course, the words ethics and morals refer to collective rather than individual values, to collective rather than individual responsibility. Katenus identifies the individualization of ethics with Platonic philosophy and with Christian theology.  He is probably correct. The potential conflict between public law and private conscience looms large in Katenus' thinking. He identifies Kant as the author who attempted to reconcile the conflicting demands by postulating for individual conscience a "categorical imperative" that can be reliably projected to society, to the state and indeed to the cosmos. Katenus concludes that the categorical imperative is a hoax and that Kant was only kidding. I agree. Katenus is honest enough to admit that he can't find a theoretical basis for "ethics" or provide it with a "moral" justification. Instead Katenus advocates accepting people as they are. Some, admittedly very "bad" and destructive, other suprisingly "good", compassionate and constructive. Katenus declares himself a disciple of George Fox and Baruch Spinoza. I'm not sure that he knows what he is talking about. If you want to argue about good and evil, don't argue with me, argue with Katenus. He doesn't have e-mail, but his street address is 174 School Street, Belmont MA 02478. I hope this helps.

Please explain "Art as an historical source."

Stay well, give my best to Ned, and have a nice weekend with Vic.

Jochen

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