tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post6211325490235174648..comments2023-12-31T03:18:37.403-06:00Comments on "E pur si muove!": Bring Back "Folly"Lester Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-23511385482426489722009-11-15T22:17:51.130-06:002009-11-15T22:17:51.130-06:00We will have to add Fisher-related objects to the ...We will have to add Fisher-related objects to the <a href="http://www.follymuseum.com/" rel="nofollow">Museum of Folly</a>xensenhttp://blog.rightreading.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-55792482431441327232009-11-11T02:52:19.113-06:002009-11-11T02:52:19.113-06:00My grandfather used to say "there's nothi...My grandfather used to say "there's nothing worse than an educated fool." I always liked that.Mark Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10024267543964793886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-43297305249938334072009-11-04T23:45:45.963-06:002009-11-04T23:45:45.963-06:00What a valuable identification - thanks Lester, I ...What a valuable identification - thanks Lester, I think this says something profound about our culture.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-58162187416838308382009-11-04T08:20:02.515-06:002009-11-04T08:20:02.515-06:00I didn't know about this. Wow. Especially th...I didn't know about this. Wow. Especially the bit about withholding politically explosive information for "national security" reasons. I seem to remember Nixon doing that.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-13897761450219536062009-11-03T20:48:40.095-06:002009-11-03T20:48:40.095-06:00OT - have you read about this stuff?
http://www.b...OT - have you read about this stuff?<br /><br />http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/secret-copyright-tre.html<br /><br />the copyright treaty that Obama says must be kept secret because of national security? It got leaked somehow. Got the link above through Virginia Postrel.Annnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-34271541079848249912009-11-02T09:01:15.596-06:002009-11-02T09:01:15.596-06:00Thanks for your comments, folks. Sorry I've b...Thanks for your comments, folks. Sorry I've been out of touch, but I was away at a conference for several days and that isolated me from the internet for the most part.<br /><br />Dancing,<br /><br />Ethics, like the rest of philosophy, is becoming increasingly technical. It seems to be a law of nature. But there still are some around who are writing on real-life issues and have a potential for enhancing wisdom. I liked Tara Smith's "The Virtuous Egoist," for instance.<br /><br />Ann, <br /><br />Yes, my own view is that thinking in principles (rather than responding to situations on a range-of-the-moment basis) is an essential ingredient of wisdom.<br /><br />Matt,<br /><br />Depending on one's conception of mental illness, the notion that BF is mentally ill (a paranoiac?) may be consistent with what I am saying here. One difference between "mental illness" and ethical categories like "folly" is that the former carries the suggestion that the person involved is not responsible for being the way they are (illness is something that happens to you, not something you do). I am assuming that he is (at least partly) responsible.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-77718106785300952212009-11-01T08:51:20.084-06:002009-11-01T08:51:20.084-06:00Hi Lester,
Nice post. I'm quite sympathetic t...Hi Lester,<br /><br />Nice post. I'm quite sympathetic to your view about bringing back wisdom. I am curious what you think about another explanation for Fischer's behavior: that he was mentally ill. (NB: I've read some Fischer biography, but not enough to know how plausible this explanation is.) Do you see that explanation as incompatible with the wisdom/folly explanation, or not?matt wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-81154830989572140682009-10-29T18:29:07.721-05:002009-10-29T18:29:07.721-05:00I'll throw in my two cents. Perhaps wisdom rel...I'll throw in my two cents. Perhaps wisdom relates to the ability to generalize to principles and remove one's personal stake and emotions about a current specific issue and try to cast it's significance in a more abstract and logico-empirical light. Maybe it's the difference between an earlier legal era that grasped the general universal principle of a 'premeditated crime' that could be applied to all, versus today's expedient listing of special interest groups that are singled out for protection against 'hate crimes'.Annnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-50283916475715726602009-10-28T17:25:51.160-05:002009-10-28T17:25:51.160-05:00"Wisdom means understanding the things that m..."Wisdom means understanding the things that must be understood in order to life a good life and be a good person."<br /><br />Which amounts to no more than believing one's own platitudes. I think it's safe to just stick with Socrates on this one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-23198028706618755782009-10-28T16:06:21.593-05:002009-10-28T16:06:21.593-05:00I'd be interested to here what you have to say...I'd be interested to here what you have to say about the profession of philosophy as it relates to this distinction. It's often frustrated me that "love of wisdom" seems to be disconnected with the mainstream practice. For instance that modern-day ethics doesn't seem to have anything to tell me about how to live a good life...but rather how can I prove that what is good, is good so that I can continue to believe it? Is this perhaps Nietzsche's critique of Kant?<br /><br />-Bradthedancinganimalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03265637964628601302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-6139494422919779832009-10-28T11:21:00.524-05:002009-10-28T11:21:00.524-05:00Perhaps to bring about a world of tolerance and un...Perhaps to bring about a world of tolerance and understanding we subjugated strong opinions into political correctness and social corectness. The iconoclasts like Fisher who were considered fools with "nothing to lose" were the ones who lashed out at the ones they perceived as the promoters of correctness.<br /><br />In order to aleviate offensive words towards others, the new heroes are the ones who can deal in non-subjective objects like sports and money; so we now raise up the business mogul and pro athlete as Promethian Hero.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com