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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
This response is not about kayaking... sorry all.
Posted By: Brianne Corbett In Response To: Re: Unequal Blubber (David)
Date: Tuesday, 21 May 2002, at 6:33 p.m.
: I never meant this to be a first year philosophy seminar. And besides, you
: are using formal logic, which I think is a much weaker vehicle for
: arriving at truth than deconstructionism, Kantian dialectic or formal
: linguistic philosophy characterized by the British school. And if you are
: to joust with me in philosophy, let us choose our weapons first, that is,
: our terms of reference and the precise nature of your argument and the
: intended outcome of this discourse.Trust me... you don't want to joust with me on the topic of philosophy, either at the first year level or the 10th year level.
As for weapons... I have no real desire to fight so I will simply tell you a true story. In 1974, I was teaching Philosophy at a midwest university. I was teaching classes in Symbolic Logic. One of my mentors was an old professor named Dr. Mason Myers. One day a student came into his office while he and I were discussing a lesson plan. The student was very upset because he had failed one of Dr. Myers' logic courses (not one of my sections).
The student claimed that he passed the course and objected to Dr. Myers that truth was relative anyway. What was true for him was true for him and what was true for Dr. Myers was true for Dr. Myers. So he demanded an 'A' instead of an 'F'.
Dr. Myers smiled in a very gentle way and said you already have your 'A'. The student stopped and said, "What do you mean?" Dr. Myers said, "Well it's true for you that you have an 'A' and it's true for me that you have an 'F' and it's true for the registrar that you have an 'F', so everyone has what they want... just as you said."
The young man stammered and said, "No, no, that's not what I mean!"
Needless to say... he discovered something that day that your "deconstructionist" heros would do well to learn. In their attempt to "free" themselves of the bondage of logic, they appeal to that very tool of logic in trying to convince others of the "truth" of their position.
As your heros contradict themselves, they then appeal to some higher power of interpretive or hermeneutic truth. All the while, they are cutting out the rungs beneath them as they climb each step of the ladder of reasoning. It works fine until they get graded in the lion's den of criticism and expect others to accept their nonsense. It all comes tumbling down.
Believe me when I say that the greatest achievements of mankind are solidly founded on the simple principles of deductive logic and its child... mathematics. Learn to think logically and when you fully understand this art... then begin your training in the Mustard Seed Garden, intellectual intuition, and Jacques Derrida.
One last thing... don't drop names in philosophy if you don't know anything about the names you are dropping... you might run into someone who does know something about them... that would be very embarrassing for you. I say this because you make it appear that the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, supports this rejection of logic and "deconstructionist" thinking. Nothing in the world could be further from the truth. You really haven't got a clue as to what you are talking about. So drop it... you are out of your water... stick to kayaking where you have a better chance of saying something valuable.
Brianne


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