alexa:
You wrote:
>>Twaddle! You have missed all my points and misstated all my opinions.<<
I have not misstated you. Perhaps you misspoke.
>>You realize, of course, that your hero Aristotle thought slavery was natural because some are by nature inferior? Is that the "A" you would have me start with? I, of course, find much of interest in Aristotle's works. He was a great thinker but only one among many. So that you don't missinterpret me I'll state my point clearly. All great thinkers, all doctrines, have their worthy points<<
(Not all doctrines, and not all thinkers whom many think are great. Immanuel Kant comes to mind).
>>but they all have their flaws too.<<
Of course I am in agreement with you on this point.
>>Second, of course I make judgments. I, though, would not attempt to justify them as absolute truth.<<
At the baseline of existence there are absolutes, as a building must have a foundation.
>>Third, I find it fascinating that you can read the mind of a dead man and know what he was feeling as he wrote. Knowing what I do about Dicken's life I find your revelations run counter to what I know historically of the man.<<
One cannot create that which is worthy without having a sense of greatness within one's self. From this, the hunger to create, derive's part of Man's genius.
>>Fourth, I believe I already stated an opinion quite similiar to your own regarding children.<<
See, we are in agreement on many things.
>>Realism is fine but it is just one of many competing doctrines. If you close your mind to all the rest you are as blind as the religious zealots you obviously despise. To embrace realism is fine, to insist that other people embrace it because you think it is the way, the truth, and the light isn't fair minded and reeks of the kind of totalitarian thought Orwell despised.<<
The only reality we have is. . . reality. Surprise! To live an artificial reality is to live an artificial life -- usually at the expense of someone else. Analysis of so-called "competing" doctrines exposes them as bankrupt of valid reasoning. On to Orwell, he despised power mongers, the smug violators of other's rights, the propagators of mystic nonsense in order to create a false lien on Men's lives. To live outside reality as many of these doctrines advocate, results in the rights of others being violated -- especially the rights of those who are unsuspecting.
Father Terrence |
