I keep losing the thread on the posts...here's something I've wondered
for a while: do 'bad' people 'create' 'bad' philosophies? Can a good
person create a bad philosophy? Can a bad person create a good
philosophy?
Karl Marx springs to mind. He was racist, anti-Semitic, unconcerned
with facts, contempuous, with a taste for violence and love of power,
exploitative of all around him....a bitter, angry man....incompetent
with money...an adulterer...never supported his illegitimate
child....such a miserable father two of his daughters committed suicide.
John Maynard Keynes was another. Although not known to many, his
economic school--"Keynesianism--(actually a form of socialism) is what
ran America for 45 years after WWII, with predictable results. He was a
self-professed 'immoralist' and homosexual rapist.
Ayn Rand is another. An amphetamine addict and an adulteress, she
suffered from narcisstic personality disorder most of her life. She was
filled with rage, hate, envy, was paranoid and grandiose. Her philosophy
is very subject/object oriented and is a weird combination of Nazi
Ubermensch philosophy and the free market.
Then of course there are people such as Jim Jones of Jonestown fame,
David Koresh, Marshall Whathisname and Heaven's Gate.
On the other hand we have the Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tse.
Can anyone think of a low-quality person creating a high-quality
philosophy?
Bob
MOQ Online Homepage - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Unsubscribe - http://www.moq.org/md/index.html
MD Queries - horse@wasted.demon.nl
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:02:59 BST