But returning to fatalism, the truth, then, is that there is no general philosophical or rational justification for it. It corresponds to a mood, a state of mind in which we feel out of control, and feel that we are indeed just spectators of our own lives. This is not always unjustified. People are sometimes largely powerless, politically, or even psychologically (because we are not flexible, but are indeed brainwashed, or in the grip of strange obsessions that we cannot shake). When we are powerless, fatalism may be a natural frame of mind into which to relapse. If our best efforts come to
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