[lit-ideas] Re: Up to the End of History
- From: "Walter C. Okshevsky" <wokshevs@xxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 02:01:00 -0230
I can see that the idea of a "post-metaphysical world" appears ludicrous
(ridiculous)from the perspective that metaphysical thinking is "evolving." But
I'm unclear as to what that perspective is saying. We surely can't mean that it
is "progressing." Is Aristotle's conception of the full and final good for
humankind any less "evolved" than Kant's conception of respect for persons as
ends-in-themselves and members of a Kingdom of Ends? We have clear signs of
progress in the natural and biological sciences. But in metaphysics?
Walter O
Quoting Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx:
> Prae-Meta-Physical
>
> We are considering certain 'ideas':
>
> i. We (or I) live in a pre-metaphysical age.
> ii. We (or I) live in a metaphysical age (cfr. Russell on stone-age
> metaphysics)
> iii. We (or I) live in a post-metaphysical age.
>
>
> In a message dated 3/13/2013 12:37:53 A.M. UTC-02, wokshevs@xxxxxx writes:
> I
> think Donal has the post-1782 meaning in mind.
>
> Walter O is referring to the site:
>
> >perhaps ... from Etruscan...
> >Sense of "ridiculous" is attested from
> > 1782.
>
> vis-a-vis:
>
> Donal McEvoy who, in his own self-description,
>
> "finds the idea that "we live in a post-metaphysical world" as ludicrous
> as the claim we have reached "The End of History""
>
> W. O. proposes to read 'ludicrous' as a mannerism (McEvoy's mannerism) for
> 'ridiculous' ("the sense of 'ridiculous' is attested from 1782").
>
> I'm never sure how a sense originates.
>
> Grice claims,
>
> "Do not multiply senses beyond necessity".
>
> Note that 'ludicrous' is playful, while 'ridiculous' is, etymologically,
> 'laughable'. Now, as Wittgenstein says (in PI?), "not all games are
> ridiculous, even if they _must_ be ridiculous". In the meaning of the
> 'tautology' of
> the 'first' Wittgenstein, "A play is ludicrous' is tautologous.
>
> What McEvoy has in mind is that, since, like Popper, he believes in the
> EVOLUTION of metaphysical thinking (note his defense of Popper's embracing
> neo-Einstein, and neo-Darwinian, and neo-Fregean thoughts), it is not true
> that there is an age which is "post-metaphysical". Similarly, the claim,
> "History has reached its final point" is risible, in McEvoy's terminology.
>
> Cfr. Sellars/Yeatman, below.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Speranza
>
>
>
> CHAPTER 62
>
> A Bad Thing
>
> AMERICA was thus clearly top nation, and History came to a .
>
> TEST PAPER V
>
> Up to the End of History
>
> 1. Sketch vaguely, with some reference to the facts: (1) The Southsea
> Bubble, (2) The Ramillies Wig.
>
> 2. Would it have been a Good Thing if Wolfe had succeeded in writing
> Gray's Elegy instead of taking Quebec?
>
> 3. Analyse and distinguish between The Begums of Oudh. Would they have
> been deceived by the Banana ib?
>
> 4. `An Army marches on its stomach' (Napoleon). Illustrate and
> examine.
>
> 5. Account (loudly) for the success of Marshal Ney as a leader of
> horse.
>
> 6. `What a city to boot!' Who said this, Wellington or BlÑcher or
> Flora McNightingown?
>
> 7. Did anybody say `I know that no one can save this country and that
> nobody else can?' If not, who did say it?
>
> 8. Ruminate fearlessly on (1) Lord Cardigan, (2) Clapham. â
>
> 9. Do not attempt to remember what Mr Gladstone said in 1864 but
> account for the paramountcy of (1) Milk Puddings, (2) Bags, in his political
>
> career.
>
> 10. Comment Quietly on (a) Tariff Reform. (b) Mafeking Night. (c) The
> Western Front.
>
> 11. Refrain from commenting on The Albert Memorial, The September
> Massacres, The Dardanelles, The O.B.E., or any other subjects that you
> consider
> too numerous to mention. (The better the fewer.)
>
> 12. Write not more than two lines on The Career of Napoleon Buonaparte,
> or The Acquisition of our Indian Empire, or The Prime Ministers of England.
>
>
> 13. What price Glory?
>
> N.B. Do not on any account attempt to write on both sides of the paper at
> once.
>
>
>
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