tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post299845606244837265..comments2024-03-29T06:03:45.545-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: The Logophobia of the LeftGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32539086821077798492007-04-16T14:51:00.000-07:002007-04-16T14:51:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9015954050231473392007-04-11T05:57:00.000-07:002007-04-11T05:57:00.000-07:00dr_qi said "Again, despite your loathing of Chomsk...dr_qi said "Again, despite your loathing of Chomsky and his political views, it is simply false to equate his work in Linguistics with that of someone like Derrida or any of those in the semiotics camp"<BR/><BR/>Shows that you miss the point once again. You seem to think that philosophical influence is traced through the person's likes and dislikes as if they were favored flavors of literary theory, which is to completely misunderstand what philosophy is.<BR/><BR/>I can look at a painting such as munch's 'the scream' or anything by Jackson Pollock and tell you flat out that though they may not have studied philosophy, the branch of modern philosophy which shaped their souls came from Rousseau's trunk rather than Lockes.<BR/><BR/>You, like most modernists, are bedeviled by the details. The devil is not only in the details, it is the detail fetish that nearly defines them. Kant's philosophy is a veritable glorification of details, all intent on showing that this tree which he has your face pressed up against, is separate from that tree... "over there NO! Don't pull your head back! Out of the corner of your eye! See that shadow? Yes, it's separate from this one, and to say that they are part of a forrest is just silly, because you can't even <I>See</I> a forrest can you? NO! Keep your cheek in the bark! Can you see it? No! Then to assert that there is something called a forrest is to talk about what you have no direct experience of and so can not truly describe. So..." That line of thought, separating forrests and principles from the real world, is what came through Kant & Hegel. The mania for quantification that followed, with the german Phd'ists & experimental psychologists directly influenced american education and thought. <BR/><BR/>Pearce took the first wave of it. His follower, Dewey, more explicitly united the ideas of Hegel, Marx, the Proregressives, etc. To not be able to see that or understand it shows you to be their follower, whether you recognize it or not. You may not be a post modernist, but you apparently buy every essential 'thought' which fuels them.<BR/><BR/>The rest of your comments say little different. I have neither the time nor inclination to continue this now. Guess I'll have to finally finish my series of posts that left off with the proregressives. yuch.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-34060740010530788722007-04-11T04:37:00.000-07:002007-04-11T04:37:00.000-07:00QI: you're getting lost in the details. I'm no stu...QI: you're getting lost in the details. I'm no study of PoMo'ers or a real historian of the various philosophers, but from the standpoint of music, I can tell you that having different ideas and opinions does not prevent reasonable grouping. To for instance say that Liszt and Schubert played the same style ought to be ridiculous, and yet they are both Romantic composers. And in truth, despite differences in opinions, roots and styles, their music both comes and goes the same way - somewhat of the climate of the times. <BR/><BR/>In other words, don't get too lost in your own discriminatory abilities - even clones have differences.<BR/><BR/>We speak mainly of where the ideas lead - the erosion of truth they foster and their overall self-serving irrelevancy. <BR/><BR/>All forms of pomo do something like this: <BR/><BR/>1. The receiver determines the meaning of the message.<BR/><BR/>2. Choose one to deconstruct: receivers, determining, meanings, messages or 'of'. <BR/><BR/>NOTE: you may feel free to ignore universality of any of the five concepts as it suits you.<BR/><BR/>As for Rand, her misreading of Kant seemed to work out fine. Of course, I think everyone misreads him. Maybe he did it on purpose.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28026046008006230402007-04-11T04:33:00.000-07:002007-04-11T04:33:00.000-07:00Qi:Bearing in mind that it is strictly impossible ...Qi:<BR/><BR/>Bearing in mind that it is strictly impossible to be "always wrong," tell us what you think Foucault's general philosophy contributred to human understanding -- the original wisdom it embodies that you personally rely upon to live well. I would love to hear it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22583960360622199752007-04-11T04:26:00.000-07:002007-04-11T04:26:00.000-07:00Bob mentioned that, "The left invented a new word,...Bob mentioned that, "The left invented a new word, "homophobia," with which to club anyone who does not bend over before their rigid agenda."<BR/><BR/>Rubs me the wrong way as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61636722389044668932007-04-11T02:55:00.000-07:002007-04-11T02:55:00.000-07:00Van said... InteLockYourDoor said "What we need is...Van said... <BR/>InteLockYourDoor said "What we need is action."<BR/><BR/>Agreed.<BR/><BR/>"What is the sentence handed down by the court?"<BR/><BR/>You're an idiot.<BR/><BR/>"What shall the correction be"<BR/><BR/>Stop writing. Continue reading.<BR/><BR/>"... and how shall it be implemented?"<BR/><BR/>Don't call us. We won't call you. <BR/><BR/>Heh! I'm glad I saran-wrapped my computer screen today!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57690602315217670302007-04-11T02:49:00.000-07:002007-04-11T02:49:00.000-07:00Hoarhey said... Rosie's Pledge:I pledge allegiance...Hoarhey said... <BR/>Rosie's Pledge:<BR/><BR/>I pledge allegiance to the truth, I have spent my life undermining.<BR/>And to the equivocation for which it stands,<BR/>Un-sated, uber-hog<BR/>With libertines and license for all.<BR/><BR/>LOL! Bravo Zulu Hoarhey!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73372927701061779692007-04-11T02:40:00.000-07:002007-04-11T02:40:00.000-07:00Johan said:"The leftists twisted ways of using lan...Johan said:<BR/>"The leftists twisted ways of using language would be a very amusing thing if it wasn't for the facts that it had led (and still leads) to the death and oppression of millions."<BR/><BR/>How ironic (and sad) that leftists destroy those they claim to want to help.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27562482657753415852007-04-11T02:29:00.000-07:002007-04-11T02:29:00.000-07:00"For the illiberal leftist, "equivalence" is subst..."For the illiberal leftist, "equivalence" is substituted for equality, so that all of the good things that result from equality -- for degrees of goodness can only manifest in a hierarchy of values -- must be undone by a heavy-handed state to enforce equivalence, thereby undermining excellence."<BR/><BR/>Indeed. Forced equivalence destroys any incentive to excel.<BR/>Why bust your butt to excel when parasitical self-imposed losers get to steal everything you work for, backed by the force of the State?<BR/><BR/>Where good is ridiculed and evil is exalted.<BR/><BR/>There is no liberty, no good, no truth, and no beauty under forced equivalence.<BR/>Quite the opposite.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73780875926275605412007-04-11T00:25:00.000-07:002007-04-11T00:25:00.000-07:00Van,You're wrong.You're wrong.You're wrong,.AND, O...Van,<BR/>You're wrong.<BR/><BR/><BR/>You're wrong.<BR/><BR/><BR/>You're wrong,.<BR/><BR/><BR/>AND, OH YES,<BR/><BR/><BR/>You're wrong!<BR/><BR/><BR/>And did you notice that I have absolutely NO ability to articulate any point which proves that? And that you are supposed to believe I know what I'm talking about without actually explaining anything because, after all, I am Dr_Qi?<BR/>Hey, works with the undergrads.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9255951836109673252007-04-11T00:02:00.000-07:002007-04-11T00:02:00.000-07:00Van, I figure I'll put my response here instead of...Van, I figure I'll put my response here instead of sullying a new day's space with reference to your confusion[there will be plenty of that in tomorrow's post anyway I'm sure]. I just got up from a nap so excuse any typos that may arise.<BR/><BR/>Firstly, I'm not a postmodernist[despite the fact that the definition of what that would suggest is very vague] so I would never attempt a general defense of it, though I think a general attack on it, such as Bob and the rest of you all regularly engage in, is equally nebulous and futile. I would agree that a great deal of what is written by supposed Postmodernist theorists is in error or is trivially true. However, this also applies to most schools of thought and to most individual writers. Like in every discourse a great deal of work is necessary to sift through the great mass of work to find specific arguments or insights that assist one in making sense of or solving some problem that wasn't understood before. To assert that people like Derrida, Foucault and Baudrillard have added nothing to human understanding of areas of human experience is simply false even if you fail to notice. How much they have contributed can be debated, but to outright dismiss them completely is just lazy. My critique of your understanding of them isn't asserting that they are all right but that you clearly don't know enough about it to intelligently criticize them.<BR/><BR/>Second, I agree with you that Derrida's writing on Law is not very good and that his attempt to draw a connection between Justice and Deconstruction is probably just the tendency of a theorist to start seeing his specific theoretical ontology everywhere.<BR/><BR/>As to Pierce and the development of various linguistic philosophies, It is true he did write a great deal on those subjects, the extent of which is still not fully apprehended even today, but that he played little part in their overall development[especially in the early days when they were becoming somewhat distinct discourses] because his works were never published in any collected way until recently and he didn't get all that much attention from a broad class of scholars until recently as well, recently meaning the last two to three decades.<BR/><BR/>Again, despite your loathing of Chomsky and his political views, it is simply false to equate his work in Linguistics with that of someone like Derrida or any of those in the semiotics camp.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, to blandly suggest that Pragmatism has a direct connection or influence from Communism or Hegel shows a total lack of understanding them. William James and Hegel have very little in common, either stylistically or in their basic assumptions regarding nearly anything. <BR/><BR/>Likewise, to link Kant and Communism or Kant to Rousseau just shows little knowledge of the history of Philosophy. To think that Kant was interested in the downfall of Western Civilization is completely backward. Rousseau is a more complicated issue, but still what you say is a large exaggeration.<BR/><BR/>Lastly, the interview with Hicks is a good example of a complete lack of rigor in reading Kant and his connection and interplay with Hume's philosophy. Hicks seems connected to Rand and Objectivism, which isn't surprising in this regard since Rand's misreading and misunderstanding of Kant is famous for being so far off the mark and is one large reason[among many] why no reputable or esteemed Philosophers take Rand seriously as anything other than a novelist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64051623740050814322007-04-10T23:46:00.000-07:002007-04-10T23:46:00.000-07:00I don't have Reynaud's, but I think Inclined Bed T...I don't have Reynaud's, but I think Inclined Bed Therapy is worth trying for that and most health problems. IBT has been shown to improve circulation and regenerate nerves, and there have been cases in which people with spinal cord injuries have been able to walk again. Since I inclined my bed (head higher than feet) a few inches a couple months ago, I sleep much better and breathe easier at night. Also, my ankles are no longer puffy. I'm so glad Dr. Bob asked a health related question so I had an excuse to share this here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76147351819882849882007-04-10T22:54:00.000-07:002007-04-10T22:54:00.000-07:00Thanks Dilys,I started diving into the muck, and i...Thanks Dilys,<BR/><BR/>I started diving into the muck, and it's just too bludgeoning <I>Stupid</I> to waste my the time on.<BR/>From your link:<BR/><BR/>“Postmodern prose is perhaps best approached as an exercise in posturing and phonetics, of couching slim and trite observations in needlessly Byzantine language… Efforts to fathom deep meaning, or, very often, meaning of any kind, are generally exhausting and rarely rewarded. More often, what you’ll find is essentially a pile of language, carefully disorganized so as to obscure a lack of content.” <BR/><BR/>Pretty much says it all. Equivocation, useless neologisms, convolution, extended plodding efforts to raise the most silly and trite globservations to farfetched significance... I'd hunt for some more adjectives, but the rest that fit are mostly of the four letter variety.<BR/><BR/>My apologies to all for the length, but oh... I'm a flogger... (sorry for eating the space Gagdad - at least it's at the end of the day)<BR/><BR/>Spot the Post-Modernist:<BR/>A:<BR/><I>"Deconstruction is justice. It is perhaps because law (droit) (which I will consistently try to distinguish from justice) is constructible, in a sense that goes beyond the opposition between convention and nature, it is perhaps insofar as it goes beyond this opposition that it is constructible and so deconstructible and, what’s more, that it makes deconstruction possible, or at least the practice of a deconstruction that, fundamentally, always proceeds to questions of droit and to the subject of droit. (1) The deconstructibility of law (droit), of legality, legitimacy ot legitimation (for example) makes deconstruction possible. (2) The undeconstructiblity of justice also makes deconstruction possible, indeed inseparable from it. (3) The result: deconstruction takes place in the interval that separates the undeconstructibility of justice from the deconstructibility of droit (authority, legitimacy, and so on). It is possible as an experience of the impossible, there where, even if it does not exist (or does not yet exist, or never does exist), there is justice. "</I><BR/><BR/>B:<BR/><I>“Society is fundamentally dead,” says Derrida; however, according to Pickett[3] , it is not so much society that is fundamentally dead, but rather the collapse, and subsequent economy, of society. In a sense, the characteristic theme of the works of Joyce is the bridge between reality and sexual identity. If subcultural discourse holds, we have to choose between dialectic nihilism and predialectic deconstruction. <BR/>Sexuality is used in the service of capitalism,” says Bataille. Thus, Derrida uses the term ’subcultural discourse’ to denote a self-fulfilling whole. The subject is contextualised into a dialectic nihilism that includes truth as a totality. "</I><BR/><BR/>The first is from Derrida on law, the second is from a <A HREF="http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo" REL="nofollow">Priceless Pomo generator</A>, computer generated and indistinguishable from the real thing. <BR/><BR/>Doubtless DQ will point out how I haven't grasped the finer details of PoMo, but what our eeisteamed dr_qi doesn't get, with all of his careful separating of philology, semantics, semiotics (I think you missed on that a bit, but that's neither here nor there, except that Peirce had much to do with it), and other assorted DecomPostHooie, he doesn't get that it's like wasting time differentiating between different brands of fruit cake - what's the point? They're all crap! <BR/><BR/>You can trace every damn one of them back through Communism, Socialism, Progressivism, Pragmatism, Hegelianism, Kantianism to their source in Rousseau - Chomsky included - and just because they scream at each other doesn't make them any less alike in style, 'content' and purpose - the destruction of Western Civilization in general, the Enlightenment (English branch) and Classical Liberalism in particular, foisting in it's place some variant of socialism, which means brute force, ugliness and lies (oh, excuse me, 'many truths') over the Good, the Beautiful and the True.<BR/><BR/>Gagdad had a good post a while back on Stephen Hicks book on Post-modernism, this <A HREF="http://www.objectivistcenter.org/showcontent.aspx?ct=22&h=51" REL="nofollow">interview</A> gives a good overview of the PoMo disease as well.<BR/><BR/>For a decent job of gumshoeing deconstruction-Marxist-multi-culti-deconstructivitis back to the source. A collection of <A HREF="http://www.freecongress.org/PC_Essays/" REL="nofollow"> essays</A>, in particular <A HREF="http://www.freecongress.org/PC_Essays/E_chapter_four.pdf" REL="nofollow">Political Correctness: Deconstruction and Literature</A> ties them up well. For a shorter summary of them, <A HREF="http://www.academia.org/lectures/lind1.html" REL="nofollow">The Origins of Political Correctness - An Accuracy in Academia Address by Bill Lind </A>Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-45771253489445713992007-04-10T22:51:00.001-07:002007-04-10T22:51:00.001-07:00JWM,Good choice of quotes, that's a favorite of mi...JWM,<BR/>Good choice of quotes, that's a favorite of mine too.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71310398849286733742007-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:002007-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:00InteLockYurDoor said "I have an idea of where to s...InteLockYurDoor said "I have an idea of where to start: on the level of each individual raccoon."<BR/><BR/>Sure wish you did have that idea.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2171430045693214562007-04-10T22:20:00.000-07:002007-04-10T22:20:00.000-07:00interlocutor,How do you "know" what anyone here do...interlocutor,<BR/><BR/>How do you "know" what anyone here does with regard to activism? Coons are self starters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19399441041196080832007-04-10T21:48:00.000-07:002007-04-10T21:48:00.000-07:00Well, to restate my case, because I do think I hav...Well, to restate my case, because I do think I have a case here that merits attention--<BR/><BR/>I'll accept that Bob transmits a constant stream of variations on a theme--the how, why, when and who is cracked and dangerous on the Left---and that is useful. Bob is doing his part. He is the theorist behind raccoonism.<BR/><BR/>But if nobody else changes the way they live as a result, then somehow the circuit is not closed, the tea is not tossed in the harbor, and nothing changes.<BR/><BR/>We need "middle-managers" that will play Lenin to Bob's Marx, to borrow from a hated ideology that nevertheless became very influential.<BR/><BR/>Raccoons want to be influential: I take that to be axiomatic, or Bob would not Blog, nor Van read. If not wanting to create change, why bother?<BR/><BR/>Bob freely acknowledges that the enemy ideology dominates the media, parts of the government, academia, and business. There should be some plan for contesting this domination.<BR/><BR/>I have an idea of where to start: on the level of each individual raccoon. Each one should identify a target leftist individual and campaign to influence their thinking. If enough raccoons do this a snowball effect will take place.<BR/><BR/>I'll stop picking on Bob, who is one of the few who is already working hard on the cause. The rest of you people should man up and get going too. Let's get those tea crates into the harbor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18209783354434474532007-04-10T21:27:00.000-07:002007-04-10T21:27:00.000-07:00jwm said...Speaking of language,this is one of my ...jwm said...<BR/><BR/>Speaking of language,this is one of my favorite quotes. (pared down a little)<BR/><BR/><I>Tzu Lu said: <BR/>If the prince of Wei were waiting for you to come and administer his country for him, what would be your first measure? The Master said, It would certainly be to correct language....If language is incorrect, then what is said does not concord with what was meant; and if what is said does not concord with what was meant, what is to be done cannot be effected. If what is to be done cannot be effected, then rites and music will not flourish. If rites and music do not flourish, then mutilations and lesser punishments will go astray. And if mutilations and lesser punishments go astry, then the people have nowhere to put hand or foot....<BR/>Confucius</I><BR/><BR/>"lesser punishments gone astray"<BR/>Sound familiar?<BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-8214953154140274712007-04-10T21:18:00.000-07:002007-04-10T21:18:00.000-07:00For what it's worth: My mother, an "amateur" (but...For what it's worth: My mother, an "amateur" (but educated) nutritionist, was convinced that diabetics suffered from neuropathy and other nerve dysfunctions like Reynaud's because they didn't get enough fat in their diets ... that the only thing that actually nourishes the myelin sheathing and keeps it healthy was FAT. She believed it was vitally important to adjust the rest of the diet and/or insulin to accommodate a slight increase in fat intake. (I don't have diabetes but others in my family did).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28457532311309687712007-04-10T21:07:00.000-07:002007-04-10T21:07:00.000-07:00I've had Reynaud's in my hands since I was 14 (55 ...I've had Reynaud's in my hands since I was 14 (55 now). It occurs when I get chilled, and can even happen in the summer, coming into an especially cool house from outdoors, or holding an iced drink. While only my hands go dead, I have hard, almost painful shivers until it passes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72108103458739702872007-04-10T20:52:00.000-07:002007-04-10T20:52:00.000-07:00David Thompson on Peddling Stupidity for more on t...David Thompson on <A HREF="http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2007/04/peddling_stupid.html" REL="nofollow">Peddling Stupidity</A> for more on the assault on language & perception itself: "This is the legacy of postmodern thought, as trafficked by many academics of the left – the ‘freedom’ to blunt the senses and be triumphantly, shamelessly wrong."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-92227930132387537132007-04-10T20:23:00.000-07:002007-04-10T20:23:00.000-07:00Yes. File under "not funny enough for the trouble...Yes. File under "not funny enough for the trouble."Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79615395314834306242007-04-10T19:52:00.000-07:002007-04-10T19:52:00.000-07:00Gagdad? Did Dupree zap your own link?Gagdad? Did Dupree zap your own link?Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50576169788761258002007-04-10T19:51:00.000-07:002007-04-10T19:51:00.000-07:00uh... I think I have 3rd degree Sun burn.uh... I think I have 3rd degree Sun burn.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47990861898869160012007-04-10T18:33:00.000-07:002007-04-10T18:33:00.000-07:00"Diversity" meand uniformity of opinion. "Equalit..."Diversity" meand uniformity of opinion. "Equality" means uniformity of all other public appearance.Bleeplesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11266223131463603911noreply@blogger.com