![]() ![]() But the question arises: History of what? Do we want the center of culture to be based on a closed system, a process of text in/text out, and no empirical contact with the real world? One can only marvel at, for example, art critics who know nothing about visual perception "social constructionist" literary critics uninterested in the human universals documented by anthropologists opponents of genetically modified foods, additives, and pesticide residues who are ignorant of genetics and evolutionary biology. History illuminates our origins and keeps us from reinventing the wheel. And imagine, too, how much even sorrier our sorry world would have been without it. ![]() But imagine how much more impossible a dream it would have seemed on that day 350 years ago. ![]() Spinoza's dream of making us susceptible to the voice of reason might seem hopelessly quixotic at this moment, with religion-infested politics on the march. An idea that had caused outrage when Spinoza first proposed it in the 17th century, adding fire to the denunciation of him as a godless immoralist, had found its way into the minds of men who set out to create a government the likes of which had never before been seen on this earth. That each individual is worthy of ethical consideration is itself a discoverable law of nature, obviating the appeal to divine revelation. Spinoza had argued that our capacity for reason is what makes each of us a thing of inestimable worth, demonstrably deserving of dignity and compassion. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |