--- On Sun, 17/10/10, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I know I'm reneging on my resolve to post little > explanations of what my blog-notes are about, Where's your backbone? > but I > discovered that some Lit-Idears like to express as much > annoyance at those as you do at my titles; That might be v. little annnoyance then, as I was not even simulating annoyance. You may have not clocked that my answer was presented mostly as a swipe at analytical philosophy. Your question is not a scientific one and so may in the broad sense be seen as philosophical - more philosophical than the question "Who will likely win today's Merseyside derby?" perhaps, but perhaps less philosophical than "Which is the best theory of knowledge?" (yet perhaps of greater import for ethical theory than the "Trolley Problem"). But in the way you pursue these questions, it seems they belong more on a pol-ideol [politics-ideology] list than this (admittedly v. broad) "lit-ideas" list. The broad question you frame could indeed be addressed in broad terms, using examples from the dawn of human history, but my impression is that you offer this question as a surrogate for some specific, rhetorical question such as "Should we lay down and surrender in the face of violent Jihadism?" This question can be answered "No" by reasonable people who nevertheless disagree on what is the best strategy to resist and oppose violent fundamentalism of whatever stripe: which means the question you raise surely raises this underlying question of strategy - except for those who think we should just "surrender". And who does think this? I doubt you are right in suggesting Mike Geary does. I believe I don't. But a wrongheaded strategy against violent fundamentalism can easily only strengthen its hand (the Ireland I emerged from is replete with examples of this). For this reason, the question in the thread-title may be seen as not so well-put and, in fact, tendentious. Mrs. Merkel has now come out on the failure of "multikulti" in Europe and this view is widespread and hardening. The issue of "multi-culturalism" is a very complex and wide-ranging one, and to say "multikulti" has failed in some respects (that need now to be addressed more actively than before) is quite different from saying it has not succeeded in any, or even many, respects. If the miraculous rise of ancient Greek thought may be largely credited to a "multi-culturalism" from the cross-pollination of ideas in their trade hubs, then we owe our 'Western tradition' to "multikulti". It is within, and even fundamental to, this Western tradition that within the 'private' sphere persons may behave as they wish (insofar as they do not harm others etc.; where such 'harm' is contrary to law, it takes their behaviour into the 'public' sphere even if occurs in the bedroom) but it is desirable that we are all assimilated to the extent that we can interact harmoniously in the public sphere and so cross-pollination can occur. This level of assimilation is not conscription or uniformity in any negative sense but part of a positive civic ethos which promotes mutual understanding. Nevertheless, the specifics - of how we balance civic/public duty and individual freedom, assimilation and cultural pluralism - involve a multitude of distinct if inter-related problems. It is these that practically-speaking we need to address rather more urgently than a question of the generality of the subject-heading. > Lit-Ideas format won't allow me to write my > notes the way I do for my blog; so I would have to in order > to avoid your expressions of annoyance. This time I have read the blog note and don't myself see how it would contravene any "Lit-Ideas format". It is also the case that your notes are not posted as clickable links and need to be copied. This is when I find it often appropriate to surrender to feelings of "Life's too short". Donal London ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html