Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> This level of determinism seems almost un-American.
"I am an endless seeker with no past at my back. I unsettle all things." - Emerson
Well, you can have historical (political and collective, relational if you will) determinism, which is more European, and non-historical (a-political and individualist) determinism, which is more American.
Granting the self the ability to endlessy reinventing itself implies the idea that each of us (there is no 'we') is actually not that much constrained by the historical context and is 'free' to determine its own fortunes only by its own character and will (by its 'fitness').
The great Sacvan Bercovitch wrote beautifully about such issues in 'The Rites of Assent'.
Ulisse
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