Free Thinking : The nation
From the UK, philosopher Jonathan Rée
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One Cheer for Democracy
‘What is democracy?’ says jesting Esther – and I think I may have an answer.
In any case it’s nice to do a cyber-handshake with my fellow freethinker, and I hope I can cheer her up a bit, while leaving some of the commenters on Open Minds and Empty Heads climbing the lamp posts in Logic Lane.
The idea of democracy is as old as western philosophy, and on the whole very few people have had a good word to say for it. But I think I have a notion of democracy that may recommend itself to Esther Wilson and others.
I think I can dicriminate four different meanings of the term.
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Open minds and empty heads
Some people found it hard to take, but when I said that ‘the worst thing that can happen to a person is losing the ability to change their mind’ I really meant it. I know we are expected to admire people who, as we say, ‘stick to their principles’, but what does that really mean? The description may cover all-time heroes like Socrates or Nelson Mandela, but surely it applies equally well to Hitler or Pol Pot? We do not really admire people for sticking up for their principles when those principles strike us as mistaken and odious; instead we despise them for not having the courage to change their minds.
And what are ‘principles’ anyway?
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Philosophy and the art of self-transformation
Activists in the blogosphere seem to divide into two groups: those hoping to change themselves through the encounter with new ideas, and those looking for opportunities to to ride their old hobby horses at the drop of a hat, without bothering to attend to what other people are saying; and we seem to have our share of both here on Freethinkinguk.
Continue reading "Philosophy and the art of self-transformation"
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A Tale of Two Revolutions
The other day when I was reading in the fabulous ‘special collections’ library here in Williamstown, Massachusetts, I overheard the chief librarian – a very distinguished and knowledgeable man– welcoming someone to the building. (‘How are you? Good to see you again. Please come along in…’) I imagined from the way he was talking that the visitor must be the College president or some big-shot professor, but not at all: it was the electrician come to change some light bulbs.
That’s one of the things I like about the US: the almost complete lack of snobbiness. I know that there are obscene inequalities and massive social injustices. But on the whole people can expect to be treated with respect, and nearly everyone manages to be polite without being obsequious or deferential. And that strikes me as an important cultural and political achievement, with roots in America’s past.
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Too true, true enough
I’ve always liked the pair of English expressions: True enough and Too true. Both of them imply agreement, but with a reservation; and they also suggest that the maxim ‘nothing in excess’ applies to truth as much as to anything else. What we need is not just truth, but the right kind of truth, the right measure of truth, and in an appropriate context and at the right time. At least that’s what I’m inclined to think; and it’s confirmed by lots of the comments I’ve received on earlier posts.
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Freedom, truth and progress
I’ve been losing sleep the past few weeks, not just from the tropical weather here in Massachusetts, but because of a couple of stories about censorship and freedom of speech that have been buzzing around and refusing to settle down.
The one that’s made most noise over here () is about an American called Kevin Barrett, who propagates the view that the attacks on America on 11 September 2001 were carried out not by militant Islamists but by agents of George Bush. He is a part-time teacher of Islam at the University of Wisconsin, and when the authorities there threatened to suspend his contract the American free-speech industry leapt to his defence.
The other story is about an Iranian called , a wonderful, multi-lingual, multi-cultural philosopher who returned to his native country a few years ago, was arrested on 27 April, and as far as I know has not been heard from since. (He was by the jounralist Danny Postel.) Why on earth is there not a bit more fuss about Ramin Jahanbegloo? World powers, especially the US, have tried to bring Iran to heel by calling the regime evil and spreading rumours about post-diplomatic sanctions; how about a bit of effort to support the opposition instead, starting with Ramin Jahanbegloo?
But as I’ve said before, you can’t talk much about freedom without bringing in politics and patriotism and national rivalries too.
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Will the truth save us?
I can see the appeal of all those slogans about freedom and human rights and ‘telling truth to power’ and ‘the truth will set you free’, even when they are circulated by people who hide behind weird cyber-identities. It seems to me that any political slogan that deserves to be taken seriously ought to be discussible, which means that you can see how some reasonable person might disagree with it. But I can't see much in this stuff about freedom and truth except empty moral tautologies – the practical equivalents of ‘a rose is a rose is a rose’. Who could possibly dissent from them? And in that case, why should anyone bother to assert them. And also: who gains by reiterating them?
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