What has happened to our attitudes toward bigotry? I used to feel like I was a member of a vast alliance of people committed to fighting bigotry. We believed it was possible, and in optimistic moods perhaps even even inevitable, that bigotry would be overcome. In the last three or so years, though, I have … Continue reading Bigotry bigotry
A persistent thought from the last several months: The best loyalties are dual, with a foreground that is individual, particular and positive, and a background that is transcendent, universal and negative. The foreground is inspirational, but the background requires faith. A person who has only the former will be so full of passionate intensity he … Continue reading Split loyalties
I’m feeling a little pessimistic today. If my sources are right, the world is setting itself up for solipsistic fanaticism from every side. My impression: the best may be gradually gaining conviction, but not as fast as the worst are filling themselves with passionate intensity. * Renewed commitment to scientific method, re-conceived more expansively, follows … Continue reading Conviction and fanaticism
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. — William … Continue reading Five facets of reason
In work and in religion, we paint in a constricted ontological palette. That is, we acknowledge certain ways in which an entity can be, and neglect or deny others. – Facts, knowledge . . . doctrines, “faith” as beliefs. Techniques, methods, processes . . . traditions, customs, rituals. Things, artifacts, outputs, products . . . … Continue reading Industrial-strength religion
Meditating on Yeats’ “Second Coming”. It is often assumed (by skeptical natures) that “passionate intensity” is what defines “the worst” and that “lack of conviction” is the prescription to cure it. This in fact is a state of severe imbalance. The best must rediscover their passion — but a complex one that reaches beyond the … Continue reading Best, worst, passion and conviction
When we show someone a new way to see something, we not only call attention to new aspects of that thing, but also show how it looks if we downplay or disregard other aspects. In other words, learning a new perspective means unlearning to emphasize what we are accustomed to emphasizing. It means remapping one’s … Continue reading Naive realism
Understanding of alterity — the understanding of that which is “not I”, whether it takes the form of intersubjectivity or of objectivity (which is, in my opinion, simply a form of mediated intersubjectivity) — is a crucial matter. However, it is just as crucial not to allow concern for “the Other” to drag a thinker … Continue reading Back to ethics
I often find myself recalling Yeats’ famous lines “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.” It seems it is precisely the ones least entitled to it who have the firmest faith in their convictions and the strongest self-confidence? It seems that beyond a certain point of gross ineptitude … Continue reading Best and worst
When a person calls himself a “conservative” what precisely is it that is conserved? Is it ideas? Do conservatives wish to keep valued ideas intact and pure? Or is it a wish to conserve our limited store of moral energy? Despite what we would like to believe, we cannot just will this energy into existence, … Continue reading Conserving, simplifying, forgetting
So far in Dewey I’ve seen no recognition of the need to harmonize and focus the disparate elements of subjectivity. Without this harmony and focus, no individual or collectivity can care enough to take responsibility for itself, much less the conditions that influence it. This harmony and focus very well might involve simplification and even … Continue reading The best lack all conviction
When I was agnostic, religious believers and atheistic nonbelievers would sometimes accuse me of being noncommittal. Eventually, I found my stance: devout agnosticism. My devout agnosticism was not on the same plane as factual conviction. It was a commitment to epistemological integrity — and that commitment was every bit as passionate as any atheistic or … Continue reading Militant pluralism
Transcendence is what gives all things authentic value, positive and negative. Positively, when we value anything, and especially when we love someone, what we authentically value is precisely the reality beyond the “given”, that is, beyond what we think and what we immediately experience. If we only love the idea of someone or if we … Continue reading Transcendence, love and offense