I so love this! Kant not only still relevant, but leading the pack. I vigorously disagree with a lot of Kant’s works and even more so with Neo-Kantianisn, especially as espoused in lRawls’s A Theory of Justice. But one cannot deny how important and influential his ideas have been and continue to be. And in THIS particular essay, Kant is spot on.
How liberating! Many of us form group identities through what Freud labeled “the narcissism of minor differences.” We gain self-love by directing our aggression outwards. We are good because they are bad. What we despise others for need not be true. In fact, falsehood is more useful since it is more difficult to fight against. Group love is so much easier to achieve when it requires no effort to develop character or think hard. Instead, all that is required is to despise the correct group. Herein lies the difficulty. Deciding to be truly liberated means facing the erasure of one’s identity, which is an act of courage in opposition to what we hold dear. It is scary to live the truth.
This is a beautiful essay that profoundly moved me and has made my day.
Yes, an independent scholar puts aside the prejudices and formulas of the age and speaks to all of humanity. Yet, in order to do so, scholars must be formed by the cultural and spiritual heritage of humanity. In our time, this heritage includes Judaism, Christianity, Islam, republicanism, federalism, democracy, Marxism-Leninism, and Third World socialism. The challenging task of the independent scholar is to creatively apply the insights of the human cultural and spiritual heritage to the solution of concrete human and world problems, in the context of a continuous dialogue within and among civilizations.
I so love this! Kant not only still relevant, but leading the pack. I vigorously disagree with a lot of Kant’s works and even more so with Neo-Kantianisn, especially as espoused in lRawls’s A Theory of Justice. But one cannot deny how important and influential his ideas have been and continue to be. And in THIS particular essay, Kant is spot on.
Great essay, thank you!!
How liberating! Many of us form group identities through what Freud labeled “the narcissism of minor differences.” We gain self-love by directing our aggression outwards. We are good because they are bad. What we despise others for need not be true. In fact, falsehood is more useful since it is more difficult to fight against. Group love is so much easier to achieve when it requires no effort to develop character or think hard. Instead, all that is required is to despise the correct group. Herein lies the difficulty. Deciding to be truly liberated means facing the erasure of one’s identity, which is an act of courage in opposition to what we hold dear. It is scary to live the truth.
This is a beautiful essay that profoundly moved me and has made my day.
Yes, an independent scholar puts aside the prejudices and formulas of the age and speaks to all of humanity. Yet, in order to do so, scholars must be formed by the cultural and spiritual heritage of humanity. In our time, this heritage includes Judaism, Christianity, Islam, republicanism, federalism, democracy, Marxism-Leninism, and Third World socialism. The challenging task of the independent scholar is to creatively apply the insights of the human cultural and spiritual heritage to the solution of concrete human and world problems, in the context of a continuous dialogue within and among civilizations.
https://charlesmckelvey.substack.com/
Great article. More like this, please! I appreciate relating the ideas of great thinkers from the past (even from the recent past) to issues of today.
The distinction between public and private thinking is immensely helpful. Thank you!
"I kan't understand algorithms"