(urth) Wolfe and Materialism

[Craig Brewer]

Just a note that there are quite a variety of "materialisms" out there. Perhaps 
one that would be interesting to think of in relation to Wolfe would be Milton.

Milton was a materialist. But he was also, obviously, not an atheist. For 
Milton, matter and spirit were on the same continuum, and spirit was just 
"refined" matter. Technically, Milton gets categorized as a "monist" meaning 
there's only one substance, rather than a dualist who says that mind/soul and 
body are two different "things."

In his theological writings, Milton says this right out, but you can also get a 
much more beautiful version in Paradise Lost (5. 469-490) when Rafael explains 
it to Adam. I'll quote it below, but I'd point out that this kind of 
"materialism" might be interesting to think about, particularly in relation to 
the notion that, with Wolfe, mimicking something can help you become that thing. 
Perhaps, like Milton, Wolfe is saying something along the lines of: "lowly 
matter gets refined into a more spiritual state when it behaves like something 
more pure/moral/spiritual/whatever."

Rafael to Adam:


O Adam, one Almighty is, from whom
All things proceed, and up to him return,
If not deprav’d from good, created all
Such to perfection, one first matter all,
Indu’d with various forms, various degrees
Of substance, and in things that live, of life;
But more refin’d, more spirituous, and pure,
As nearer to him plac’t or nearer tending
Each in thir several active Spheres assign’d,
Till body up to spirit work, in bounds
Proportion’d to each kind. So from the root
Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves
More aery, last the bright consummate flow’r
Spirits odorous breathes: flow’rs and thir fruit
Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublim’d
To vital spirits aspire, to animal,
To intellectual, give both life and sense,
Fancy and understanding, whence the Soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being,
Discursive, or Intuitive; discourse
Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours,
Differing but in degree, of kind the same.