Russia on the Edge by Clowes Edith W.;

Author:Clowes, Edith W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8014-6114-9
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)

Volodin continues his incongruous analysis of Aristotelian materialism, using the example of the Mercedes 600:

Then Aristotle came and said that the basic heavenly automobile, of course, exists. And all earthly cars, it stands to reason, are just its contorted reflections in the dull, crooked mirror of existence. At the time you couldn’t argue with that. But Aristotle said that beside the basic form and its reflection, there is something else. The material that takes on the form of the automobile. The substance that possesses its own existence. Iron, as you put it. And that very substance is what made the world real. That’s where all this screwed-up market economy started. Because before that everything on earth was just a reflection, and, tell me, what kind of reality can a reflection have? The only thing that is real is what creates the reflection. (ChP, 141)

The blinkered pragmatist Maria wins, showing a certain common sense that will soon win him freedom from the psychiatric hospital. When Volodin quizzes Maria on what exactly he took away from this lecture, Maria catches Volodin on a practical detail, which, of course, is the source of Pelevin’s philosophical comedy, “I got that you are a real psycho. How could there be any automobiles in Ancient Greece?” In disgust Volodin predicts Maria’s imminent release. Volodin is right to think that Maria is the closest to Timur Timurovich’s model of the healthy psyche, precisely because he lacks all higher intellect and cannot conceive of other realities. Even Maria’s fantasies reside wholly in Moscow. Meanwhile, Volodin is interesting for his attempts, both philosophical and drug-induced, to see beyond mere materialism. His limitation is his deep attachment to symbols of physical power and force.

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