[lit-ideas] A philosopher's musings
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Anthro-L <ANTHRO-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:31:24 +0900
"To sum up. A new humanism should begin with a modesty cure, perhaps
by abjuring the very arrogant concept of humanism, which places the
human animal as the central reference point for all of existence. A
new humanism, compatible with the sensitivity of metaphysics, cannot
turn its back on science. Naturally, it's not a question of falling
into the pseudoscientific obscurantism which Alan Sokal and Jean
Bricmont denounced in their well-known book, Intellectual Imposters.
There's no need to use scientific jargon when it doesn't pertain. Nor
is there cause to fall into radical epistemological relativism (which
can result from a poor digestion of works by Kuhn and Feyerabend), nor
to believe science to be mere narrative or nothing but social
construct. Nor should we look for an absurd synthesis between Science
and Mysticism. Humanism's received task is more deferential toward the
autonomy of science: To truly understand our most fundamental
conditionings; to ensure that scientific paradigms truly fertilize
philosophical and even literary discourse."
The complete essay by Spanish philosopher Salvador Paniker can be found at
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/paniker07/paniker07_index.html
As I read those words "a modesty cure," I find myself thinking how so
often the voice of intellectual and political debate is that of a
scold saying "must" or "mustn't," when the easiest thing in the world
to do is to shrug, turn away and go on muddling through.
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
- » [lit-ideas] A philosopher's musings
