From: MATTHEW PAUL KUNDERT (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Sun Sep 21 2003 - 21:44:50 BST
Andy,
Andy began:
Well, I don't like to give out reading lists, but Rorty could probably explain it better than I. At least, I think I would do better if I pointed you to an inspiration than if I tried to explain it. Rorty's "achieving Our Country" is a very short read with many inspiring thoughts for liberals in America. It is not really philosophy, it is more Rorty following his own advice and substituting hope for knowledge.
Matt:
Another excellent reading of Rorty, one that coveys a proper understanding, the spirit of the letter.
On quibble, though. Andy said, "But he is saying that there is no truth "in there" in words such as democracy, capitalism, etc... You have agreed that this is obvious, and really doesn't need to be said. I think it does need to be said, because I have held many words such as democracy and freedom sacrad in the past."
I don't think we want to say that democracy and freedom are not sacred. The reason is that I would take the words that we hold at the bottom of our final vocabularies, words that we cannot argue for in any fashion but circular, as sacred. We wouldn't be able to identify ourselves as ourselves unless we believed in these root-bottom words, particularly those like democracy and freedom. Now, after saying that, I would make a distinction between sacredness and dogmatism. I think dogmatism is an extra ingredient that can be disconnected from sacred. When you hold something as sacred, you are standing up for what you believe against all that is against you, all that is not sacred, (here's the Pirsigian part) all that is not as good as what you believe. The only way to be swayed from your belief in democracy-as-sacred is a concrete alternative, one that you took to be better than the old one. Because, suddenly, your sacred word isn't the best. It takes courage to back down
from that which you've held in so high esteem, but that is how one remains an ironist, somebody who does not believe that dogmatism accompanies sacredness. As Andy wonderfully argues, its about persuasion. We must leave ourselves open to the persuasive purrings of other, else we will be stuck in the windowless monads of our own egocentric beliefs.
Matt
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