Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 03:43:20 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199711060843.DAA26519@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: Robin Turner Sender: Lojban list From: Robin Turner Subject: Re: 'your will' as sumti X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 1502 X-From-Space-Date: Thu Nov 6 03:43:21 1997 X-From-Space-Address: LOJBAN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU I'm not up to discussing the Lojban semantics of "will", but it seems that first you have to be clearer about "will" as used by Rabelais. I get the impression that Ashley also has in mind Crowley's gloss (as in "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"), where "will" is not simply "desire" or "motivated action" but an almost teleological concept along the lines of "that which in your considered opinion is the best thing to do in relation to your personal development and your position in the universe". Or something like that (it also has echoes of Augustine's "Love God, and do as you will"). I have elsewhere glossed this as "awareness of intrinsic tendency", but that doesn't make sense outside my own rather idiosyncratic personal philosophy (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8309/pattern.html>). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an English word that fits this idea very well, so if we can find a Lojban structure, then all to the better. I don't think there are any gismu that would fit - someone needs to come up with a good tanru here (and at this point I bow out). Robin P.S. Apologies to those I referred to for stuff on governments and languages - most of the good stuff is in the notes, which haven't made it into HTML yet. I'll get them on ASAP. I'm also thinking of making a collection of ludicrous examples of language and national policy, so if anyone has any good ones, please e-mail them to me.