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< | Stephen, I wrote down some thoughts I'd like your opinion on before I edit if you get a chance. If not, that's ok, too. | >
> | still working on it. | | | Chaos is a Friend of Mine | | |
"Complexity so intricate no one can fathom it." | |
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< | In "Something Split," a chapter of Lawrence Joseph's Lawyerland, we are introduced to transactional lawyer Carl Wylie through his apathy. He doesn't care about some grand academic theory of what "law" is, or even "money" - what interests him is chaos, the chaos embedded in everything he does. At first, this interest seems strange - why would a transactional lawyer, someone who deals with complex and intricate business deals on an almost daily basis, place his business beyond his ken? What good is a lawyer who doesn't even attempt to fathom what he does? But approaching the story through the lens of Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class, this interest in impenetrable complexity stands as an almost necessary career trait. | >
> | In "Something Split," a chapter of Lawrence Joseph's Lawyerland, we are introduced to transactional lawyer Carl Wylie through his apathy. He claims he doesn't care about what the “law” is, or even “money.” Rather, Wylie says what interests him is chaos, which he describes as being “so intricate no one can fathom it.” In short, Wylie believes and accepts that everything he does is embedded in an impenetrable chaos. At first, this interest seems strange - why would a transactional lawyer, someone who deals with complex and intricate business deals on an almost daily basis, place his business beyond his ken? What good is a lawyer who doesn't even attempt to understand the nature of what he does? But approaching the story through the lens of Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class, this interest in impenetrable complexity stands as an almost necessary career trait. | | | "He is especially prone to accept so much of the creed as concerts the inscrutable power and the arbitrary habits of the divinity which has won his confidence."
In many ways, transactional lawyers can be seen as occupying the same position as the priests and holy men of Veblen's book. Like the shaman, the lawyer stands between people who want something and an amorphous power that can satisfy their desires - inscrutable but propitiable. The lawyer is intimately familiar with the power not because of an academic understanding (indeed, the power is too complex to ever be understood that way) but because he continually subjugates himself to it. He can manipulate the power within certain limits but he can't explain how he was done so. He sells his expertise - not logically or studiously obtained, but intuited through years of experience with and relationship to the power. | |
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< | I feel like this is the most important part of your essay, because here you lay out the animism you continue to apply for the rest of the paper. Accordingly, I want to make it louder. Let me know if I have it right first:
The animism lies in the Law. Like God, it is something people use to order their lives, give their conduct meaning, etc. Attainment of God (Law) is best facilitated through priests (lawyers), who are in the best position to provide such facilitation because they are constantly subjugating themselves to God (Law) and its power. Nonetheless, even priests (lawyers) are ultimately not able to understand God (Law) metaphysically, because it is too complex (ie., chaos). Some priests (lawyers) might think they "know" God (Law), of course, and others, like Wylie, acknowledge the chaos. Is this correct? (I think you are particularly right-on about this if you consider medieval Christian attempts to come up with "proofs" of God's existence. They are hilarious. Have you read Anselm? Sidenote.) | >
> | In many ways, the role of the lawyer can be seen as paralleling that of the priest and holy man in Veblen's book. Like the shaman, the lawyer stands between people who want something and the inscrutable but propitiable Other that can satisfy their desires. The Law, like God, is not necessarily powerful or animate in fact, but the lawyers act as though it is, and it is this behavior which gives the Law its true power. For example, the many rituals performed and artifacts used by the priest make the presence of God stronger in the eyes of the believers. Also like God, the Law itself may be too complex to understand, but, like the priest, the lawyer is intimately familiar with Its power- not by some academic understanding, but rather by continually subjugating himself to it. | | | | |
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< | By the way, I REALLY like the notion of the lawyer's expertise as a kind of intuition acquired and sharpened over time. It's a different way of using the term than Eben has used in class.
I think you mostly have the right idea, but with a change in perspective. For me, the animism isn't really in the Law. It's in Wylie. The rest of your description is how Wylie portrays it, but it's not an accurate description of reality. The Law isn't animate, Wylie just acts as if it is. And though the overall Law may be too complex for anyone to understand, I meant to imply that Wylie claims even his area of expertise alone is too complex, which may not be true. I think this leads to his threatened niche - it's not just that there might be a better priest, but there might be a doctor - someone who brings a more ordered approach to it. (Anselm's proofs are pretty fun reading, same goes for Thomas Aquinas and even Kant. Assume a God...Q.E.D.) | >
> | Of course, that is not to say that many lawyers and priests do not think they "know" the Law and God metaphysically. Holmes defined the law, and priests have defined God. Ultimately, however the power of the Thing in everyday life is what It does. The lawyer has learned he can manipulate Its power within certain limits to obtain certain results but need not be able to explain exactly how he has done so. This is the lawyer's "expertise": a set of skills or techniques not logically or studiously obtained, but intuited through years of experience with and relationship to the power of the Law, a power which the lawyer himself helps to sustain. | | | | |
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< | "The animistic habit acts in all cases to blur the appreciation of causal sequence; but the earlier, less reflected, less defined animistic sense of propensity may be expected to affect the intellectual processes of the individual in a more pervasive way than the higher forms of anthropomorphism."
Veblen sees this animism as a hereditary holdover from our more primitive days, Wylie just sees it as effective. Even his description of espresso is filled with religious fervor. "I time when it hits - the extent to which it speeds the thought process. That precise point when consciousness is heightened and everything glows." He downs multiple espressos a day just to keep up with his work - which is constantly accelerating. Intense, detail oriented concentration at an ever increasing pace - sag behind and "you're irrelevant fast - real, real fast." | >
> | Veblen sees this animism as a hereditary holdover from our more primitive days, Wylie just sees it as effective. And yet, even Wylie's description of espresso is filled with religious fervor. "I time when it hits - the extent to which it speeds the thought process. That precise point when consciousness is heightened and everything glows." He downs multiple espressos a day just to keep up with his work - which is constantly accelerating. Intense, detail oriented concentration at an ever increasing pace - sag behind and "you're irrelevant fast - real, real fast." | | | I feel like Wylie's espresso habit is really significant in some way... I need to think more about it. let me know if you have any ideas.
For me, the espresso was an example of a ritual. He won't drink anything else, he even has a preferred water brand. His entire approach to the espresso treats it as if it's some magical concoction. Plus, on a practical level, all he eats and drinks all day is 1) Fruit 2) 3-4 Double Shots of Espresso and 3) Wine. I'm not sure that's the best way to stay detail oriented. |
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