Thanks, Garth. I couldn't have said it better. I tried to hint at it
when I suggested the thread be renamed to "Philosophy 101". Guess I
should have emphasized "101". My philosophy prof of nearly 40 years ago
was similarly stuck in his inherited brand of elitism.
Maybe we can drop all this now.
Chuck Norcutt
Garth wrote:
> Robert Lewis wrote:
>
>>Christos,
>>
>>At the risk of triggering a lengthy response from you, I for one
>>do find some of your discourses overly convoluted and difficult to
>>follow. Furthermore, they tend to have a slightly condescending
>>tone that some may find offensive.
>
>
> "Slightly"? Please.
>
> Christos reminds me of half of the second-year sociology, literary
> criticism or philosophy students I knew whilst in University, with their
> heads stuck in Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul de Man or Noam Chomsky (or any
> one of hundreds of plug-and-play substitutes befouling academia with
> their intellectually masturbatory circle-jerks). And that's a lot of
> such students to run into -- I ended up getting three post-secondary
> degrees myself. "This is the *truth*, man! I'm showing you a whole new
> way of seeing the *world*, dude! All your assumptions are *wrong*! All
> your base are belong to us! We're the *future*! You're in *darkness*!
> My Sociology prof's the New Messiah! Literary Crit is gonna *save*
> us! Until now we were all *naive*!"
>
> **HEAVY SIGH**
>
> Christos, here's a tip -- you'll hate me for it now, and thank me in
> twenty years (though the odds I'll be gone by then are pretty good). If
> you honestly think you "know" something when you're spewing your
> academic jargon, try explaining the exact same concept you *think*
> you're talking about *without* using the jargon as an intellectual
> crutch, and try explaining it to the average Jane or Joe on the street.
> It'll take about ten times to twenty times as many words (jargon may
> streamline, but it also compresses and too often obfuscates), and it'll
> tell you once and for all whether or not you actually understand this
> stuff yourself. You'd be *amazed* at how many students I've given this
> challenge to over the years who simply could not do it. After they were
> finished thrashing, I'd usually simply say "You need to re-examine your
> own beliefs before you start calling everyone else out over theirs."
>
> Or, as another great critic once put it, "Why do you see the speck that
> is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own
> eye?"
>
> Ciao, bella.
>
>
> Garth
>
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