[lit-ideas] Re: Ah, philosophy


Most definitely, although one might add psychology to philosophy.  As far as 
poverty of spirit, on Wall Street they seek happiness by trying to get more of 
what they can never have enough of (money).  A unique way to push a boulder up 
a hill even if they would consider it sour grapes no doubt. 
 
As far as liberal democracies ensuring education, I'm not sure we are a liberal 
democracy, certainly were not conceived by the Founding Fathers as one.  The 
FF, BTW, may have been motivated by economics with ideology superimposed 
perhaps for posterity or probably by posterity (can't find the link, it's in 
the NYT from the fall, I'll look for it).  They also seem to have been quite 
human in their personal lives, which is to say, quite the scoundrels some of 
them (Book TV biographies).  
 

Here's Chomsky on the U.S. never having been conceived as a democracy (very 
short):
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmJv_wf91W8

 
 


--- On Wed, 7/22/09, Walter C. Okshevsky <wokshevs@xxxxxx> wrote:




On a different sense of "poor," I would say that none of us are poor in virtue
of being "misunderstood." The poverty rather rests amongst those who fail to
take steps to understand the world, themselves and others from a philosophical
perspective. Philosophy will thrive so long as universities thrive. And
universities will thrive so long as liberal democracties thrive. And we are all
democrats in the end, surely.

Walter O.
MUN




> 
> -- 
> John McCreery
> The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
> Tel. +81-45-314-9324
> jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.wordworks.jp/
> 

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