Fate, time, and language: an essay on free will: David Foster Wallace

263 Pages·2011·1.986 MB·English

by  Taylor, Richard;Wallace, David Foster;Eckert, Maureen;Cahn, Steven M

“I think Dave, foremost among a group of writers that also includes George Saunders D
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and Rick Moody, created a new American literary idiom through which people who VI DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
are young, or who aren’t young but still feel like they are, can give voice to the full D
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range of their intelligence and emotion and moral sensibility without feeling dorky O
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and uncontemporary. It’s very hard to read Dave and not feel almost peer-pressured to T
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emulate him—his style is utterly contagious. But none of his emulators have his giant R
talent or his passionate precision. Somebody could write a whole monograph on how W
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deliberately and artfully he deploys the modifier ‘sort of.’ ” L
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JONATHAN FRANZEN, New York Times Book Review AC
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In 1962, the philosopher Richard Taylor used six commonly accepted presuppositions
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to imply that human beings have no control over the future. David Foster Wallace not
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only took issue with Taylor’s method but also noted a semantic trick at the heart of e
Taylor’s argument. ,

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Fate, Time, and Language presents Wallace’s brilliant critique of Taylor’s work.
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Wallace’s thesis reveals his great skepticism of abstract thinking made to function
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as a negation of something more genuine and real. He was especially suspicious of ,

the cerebral aestheticism of modernism and the clever gimmickry of postmodernism, a
which abandoned “the very old traditional human verities that have to do with n
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spirituality and emotion and community.” As Wallace rises to meet the challenge to

free will presented by Taylor, we witness the developing perspective of this major L
novelist and his struggle to establish logical ground for his convictions. This volume, a
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edited by Steven M. Cahn and Maureen Eckert, reproduces Taylor’s original article
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and other works on fatalism cited by Wallace. James Ryerson’s introduction connects u An Essay on Free Will
Wallace’s early philosophical work to the themes and explorations of his later fiction, and a
Jay Garfield supplies a critical biographical epilogue. g
e
:
“Fatalism, the sorrowful erasure of possibilities, is the philosophical problem at the heart

of this book. To witness the intellectual exuberance and bravado with which the young A
Wallace attacks this problem, the ambition and elegance of the solution he works out n

so that possibility might be resurrected, is to mourn, once again, the possibilities that E
have been lost.” s
REBECCA NEWBERGER GOLDSTEIN, s
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author of Thirty-six Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction
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DAVID FOSTER WALLACE (1962–2008) wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and
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The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with

Hideous Men, and Girl with Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections F
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Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again and the full-length
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work Everything and More.
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW YORK $19.95 i
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ISBN: 978-0-231-15157-3 l
COVER DESIGN: Marc Cohen 51995
COVER PHOTO: Steve Liss / Time Life / Getty Images
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FATE, TIME, AND LANGUAGE

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DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
FATE, TIME, AND LANGUAGE

AN ESSAY ON FREE WILL
EDITED BY (cid:2)STEVEN M. CAHN AND MAUREEN ECKERT
INTRODUCTION BY (cid:2) JAMES RYERSON
EPILOGUE BY (cid:2)JAY GARFIELD
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW YORK
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Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
“Richard Taylor’s ‘Fatalism’ and the Semantics of
Physical Modality” copyright © 2011 Th e David Foster Wallace
Literary Trust
Th e editors and Columbia University Press have made every
eff ort to ascertain the rights holders for the essays from A nalysis
without success. Upon notifi cation from the rights holders,
we will provide appropriate credits on the copyright page at
the next reprint of the book.
“A Head Th at Th robbed Heartlike: Th e Philosophical Mind of
David Foster Wallace” copyright © 2011 James Ryerson
All other original material copyright © 2011
Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fate, time, and language : an essay on free will : David Foster
Wallace / edited by Steven M. Cahn and Maureen Eckert ;
introduction by James Ryerson ; epilogue by Jay Garfi eld.
p. cm.
“Richard Taylor’s ‘Fatalism’ and the semantics of physical
modality”—P.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn 978-0-231-15156-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-231-
15157-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-231-52707-1 (e-book)
1. Taylor, Richard, 1919– Fatalism. 2. Fate and fatalism.
3. Semantics. I. Cahn, Steven M. II. Eckert, Maureen, 1966–
III. Wallace, David Foster. Richard Taylor’s “Fatalism” and the
semantics of physical modality.
bj1461.t293f38 2011
123—dc22 2010022971
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Th is book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
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p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Designed by Lisa Hamm
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CONTENTS
Preface /vii
STEVEN M. CAHN AND MAUREEN ECKERT

Introduction: A Head Th at Th robbed Heartlike:
Th e Philosophical Mind of David Foster Wallace /
JAMES RYERSON
PART I
 THE BACKGROUND
Introduction /
STEVEN M. CAHN
1. Fatalism /
RICHARD TAYLOR
2. Professor Taylor on Fatalism /
JOHN TURK SAUNDERS
3. Fatalism and Ability /
RICHARD TAYLOR
4. Fatalism and Ability II /
PETER MAKEPEACE
5. Fatalism and Linguistic Reform /
JOHN TURK SAUNDERS
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CONTENTS
vi
6. Fatalism and Professor Taylor /
BRUCE AUNE
7. Taylor’s Fatal Fallacy /
RAZIEL ABELSON
8. A Note on Fatalism /
RICHARD TAYLOR
9. Tautology and Fatalism /
RICHARD SHARVY
10. Fatalistic Arguments /
STEVEN CAHN
11. Comment /
RICHARD TAYLOR
12. Fatalism and Ordinary Language /
JOHN TURK SAUNDERS
13. Fallacies in Taylor’s “Fatalism” /
CHARLES D. BROWN
PART II
 THE ESSAY
14. Renewing the Fatalist Conversation /
MAUREEN ECKERT
15. Richard Taylor’s “Fatalism” and the Semantics /
of Physical Modality
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
PART III
 EPILOGUE
16. David Foster Wallace as Student: A Memoir /
JAY GARFIELD

Appendix: Th e Problem of Future Contingencies /
RICHARD TAYLOR

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PREFACE
STEVEN M. CAHN AND MAUREEN ECKERT
IN 1985 David Foster Wallace, then a senior at Amherst College, sub-
mitted an honors thesis to his school’s Department of Philosophy.
Th is extended essay explored a puzzle about free will that was deeply
rooted in the history of philosophy and had been revitalized in 
with the publication of a provocative piece titled “Fatalism” by the
well-known metaphysician Richard Taylor. For several years aft er
its appearance, this article generated much discussion in the leading
philosophical journals of both Britain and the United States. In Wal-
lace’s thesis he revisited that debate and sought to resolve the crucial
issues it raised about fate, time, and language.
Wallace’s thesis was on fi le in the philosophy department library
at his college, but the existence of the work was not widely known.
In  Maureen Eckert learned from Mark Costello of the signifi -
cance the thesis had for Wallace and his desire that it be published.
She passed on this information to Steven M. Cahn, who in turn con-
tacted Wendy Lochner, senior philosophy editor at Columbia Uni-
versity Press. Permission to publish was obtained from the estate of
David Foster Wallace, and this volume was then brought to fruition.
Every eff ort has been made to put Wallace’s thesis into perspec-
tive. At the request of the Press, James Ryerson provided an intro-
duction, exploring the connections between Wallace’s literary and
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PREFACE
viii
philosophical interests. Th en, aft er a short explanatory note by Ste-
ven M. Cahn, Taylor’s controversial article is reprinted unabridged
as are the most signifi cant contributions to the debate it inspired.
Following Maureen Eckert’s explanation of the important develop-
ments in philosophy between the late s and the early s that
infl uenced Wallace’s approach, his thesis is presented, exactly as he
submitted it. Finally, at the invitation of the Press, Jay Garfi eld pre-
pared a brief epilogue, recounting his experience as Wallace’s teacher.
Th e appendix contains a crucial paper of Taylor’s, oft en overlooked
by those who seek to understand the controversy. Written fi ve years
before “Fatalism,” it off ers a clear presentation of Taylor’s own meta-
physical position: what he believed and why he believed it, its roots
in the metaphysics of Aristotle, and its consequences for understand-
ing the nature of time, logic, and divine omniscience.
Wallace’s thesis does not make for easy reading. But the issues
with which he wrestles are fascinating and the consequences far-
ranging. In this case, as in much of philosophical inquiry, a concern
for technical detail may be needed to make progress in resolving
questions that matter most.
W e are grateful to the estate of David Foster Wallace for agree-
ing to have this work published. We appreciate the support and guid-
ance of our editor, Wendy Lochner, as well as the valuable help pro-
vided by assistant editor Christine Mortlock and manuscript editor
Michael Haskell. Our thanks also to James Ryerson and Jay Garfi eld
for their insightful contributions. Without the crucial role played by
Mark Costello the project would not have been undertaken.
W e wish to acknowledge the assistance throughout production of
the staff at Columbia University Press. And we want to take this op-
portunity to thank Matt Cravatta, who found for us a photograph of
Richard Taylor.
F inally, we would like to express our appreciation for the oppor-
tunity we have been given to bring to a wider audience this work of
David Foster Wallace. We trust that his arguments will be taken seri-
ously and subjected to careful scrutiny. Doing so, as he well knew, is
how one pays tribute to a philosopher of consequence.
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FATE, TIME, AND LANGUAGE

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