[lit-ideas] Re: Faith
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 13:55:45 -0400
Eric Yost wrote:
"Certainly you disagree with writers like William Barrett, whose _Irrational
Man_ puts K strictly in existentialist territory."
That book by Barrett has done more to confuse people about K. then any
other. (A bit of hyperbole there but the point stands.) K. is not an
existentialist and in the right context I would be happy to show it.
Eric again:
"Fundamentalism is rationalist in the same way a woodpecker is a carpenter.
Only by accepting your initial presupposition--that a rationalist system can
be based on any particular delusional system--could you even claim that
fundamentalism is a form of rationalism. But you appear to desire to do
so...in which case you would have to allow Nazism as a form of rationalism."
To be clear, I said rationalistic, which is a different beast from
rationalist and rationalism. It is rationalistic in that it begins with a
self-described literal, as opposed to figurative or analogical, reading of
the Bible. Next, it perceives fundamental principles or laws at work that
are understood as principles of reality. From these fundamentals, further
laws can be deduced that then govern how one ought to live. Finally,
rejection of the fundamentals or the laws that follow is a sign of a defect
of character and mind. This basic structure applies also to Nazism but here
I invoke Godwin's law. What identifies a rationalistic approach is the
belief that there is a structure of reality that can be determined
'literally', that this literal perception of reality produces principles of
action, and that disagreement is the result of a weakness of character or
mind.
Eric concludes:
"As for 'reason and faith' making intellectual headway, I think you confuse
headway with head count."
Fascinating. While the two are not identical, what could 'headway' mean if
it didn't also involve headcounts?
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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