ABSTRACT
The sociologist Gouldner ( 1955) usefully drew attention to the ''metaphysical pathos" that can influence human activities, arrayed as professions, academic disciplines, organizations, or however. The total sense of it is a conviction of not being able to win for losing, which powerfully impacts what people are willing to risk undertaking and with what degree of intelligent commitment. The cartoonist AI Capp once gave us a prototype of such a condition portrayed as a person. You know, Joe Btzsflk; he appeared with a dark cloud over his head to remind us that it was always raining and dreary wherever he was. metaphorically, Joe had an attitude that could turn every glorious day into a bummer wherever he was. His metaphysical pathos was dour and continually self-defeating.
