From: MATTHEW PAUL KUNDERT (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Sat Feb 07 2004 - 20:12:13 GMT
David,
David said:
Well if you are determined to stand your ground there's not a lot I can do. But my concern was less with asking what makes a good person than a fully rounded one with a concern for self-knowledge and knowledge of their species, culture and world. I think a life unexamined is a lesser life, and that most people are put off by terrible schooling in childhood, where the curiosity in them is destroyed and they are led to believe that they are incapable of understanding the higher levels of knowledge, or even discover that they exist. A Britney fan may discover the pleasures of Mozart some day, but a Mozart fan is somewhat unlikely to convert to the musical pleasures of Britney. To appreciate Mozart is to reach a higher level of musical sophitication than to appreciate Britney. I say this with a musical taste that ranges from the Clash to Led Zeppelin to Mozart to Wagner. Despite the enthusiam for the first two I can see them fading from the cultural consciousness whilst the latt
er two remain.
Matt:
I don't think its completely a matter of me standing my ground or being stubborn. I think its a matter of us being at cross-purposes, talking about two slightly different things. Because I agree, from my standpoint an unexamined life would be a lesser life. That's because I can't imagine not examining my life. But I still haven't been convinced that an unexamined life is a life that should be eradicated (not biologically, but socially, as the lifeform that believed in Zeus the Almighty has slowly over time been eradicated). I'm not convinced that there is as strong a connection between world peace and personal reflection.
I think the inference from affirming Brittany to Mozart, but denying Mozart to Brittany is wrong and I don't see why you would make it. The only claim I can see you making there is that Brittany fans are more open-minded than Mozart fans. The idea of higher musical sophistication is fair enough, but your claim would then simply be that Mozart fans exclusively enjoy high sophistication while Brittany fans can enjoy a wide variety of sophistication. It may be true that Brittany and Zepplin will fade from memory (Brittany long before Zep), but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything we've been talking about.
Matt
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