4n2n018 Escapism in Iterature and life | Neohelicon Childons envionment iterate tom acoso DIVERSA aT WARREN L. YOUNG Pe lent na et rm ESCAPISM IN LITERATURE AND LIFE Sere Escapism is, as other coined words are, a value-leaded term — this means that there has been attached to the word an ethical connotation, which, it seems, has created a social stigma association. The social ‘stigma appears when the word is used as a noun, or transformed into an adjective as escapist, or when used as the verb in a context of escape from ‘situation by creating one which appears to the creator, before he hes experienced it, to be better than that in which he finds himself. The important thing here isthe treatment of the noun. If we recognize that the use of the noun ia context results in its becoming a type of complex catch-all, inclusive even of the verb, indicating a direction of action, and, above all, containing the social stigma, then we must arrive at the following conclusion: To speak in absolute terms, as in using the ‘term escapism, reveals only ignorance or mis-interpretation of reality. In the basic complexities of this existence, absolutes tend only to obscure situations, not to improve them, if improvement is our object. Even ‘those who justify absolutes as a means of understanding processes introduce disguised variables (esp. value judgements) and then justify their inclusion by expanding their previously self-contained and. all inclusively functioning systems or terms. Tf we accept the above point of departure, we must treat Escapism in terms of senses of action. There seems to be two senses of Escapism which one can work with or des : the traditional sense and the dynamic sense (as I call them). The traditional sense of Escapism is the one which is most familiar to the mass culture and the ethical judge- ment on it is made by them through the apparatus of the conventional wisdom. This type of escapism is the attempt of the individual to escape the drudgery of the situation he finds himself in; an attempt to provide himself with a personal utopia. This attempt is/can be viewed in three ways by the public 1a) It can be viewed as a character weakness, when the escapist indivi- dual realizes that the only final escape is death b) It cam be viewed as the moral triumph of “advancing” ones self by “self-improvement” (self-delusory as. ‘c)it can be viewed in the light of the intellectual triumph of the Greeks in developing transcendental or idealist thought, which leads to “scientific” discovery or discovery of all inclusive metaphysical systems. ‘When some individuals realize that death is the only final escape, though, it seems that they begin to think about systems which transcend death: about universals, ideals, and absolutes (in the Platonic sense). ‘They become a type of Platonist: pure scientists, as we find in Swift's Your Access Options Leain Ir you have posoral acess o his conan gin with your usemamo and password her: mal orusomane: [______] | Ramenterme 9h Fergotien your passwors? Reaiser tegin a Your nstuton htps:/akademiai com/doipd10,1007/8F02029240, 20