http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3822&context=fss_papers
a book review by Arthur Allen Leff of this:
KNOWLEDGE AND POLITICS. By Roberto Mangabeira Unger.
HT: John @ http://www.improvedclinch.com
That, in fact, is what is most interesting about your essay. You have written a book on ethics and politics--on how people act and ought to act, alone and together. You are awesomely familiar with the history of man and his thought on these matters. You are capable of brilliant synthetic thought. And yet you go from "total criticism" of what is, through total twaddle about what ought to be, only to end in total despair about any man's power, unassisted by divine intervention, to solve the problems you so brilliantly perceive and describe. Given who you are and what you know, it makes one think that there may be something involved that is just not humanly solvable. That, at any rate, is my opinion, and maybe I can convince you. It could be in both our interests, though perhaps in His too. (excerpt from "the review", I think it's a good note on the content of either/both the Book and the Review.) gosh the review is beautifully written, and I was happy to begin the day reading it (before coffee, while still tucked in ... pretty great).
Shared values carry weight only in the measure to which they are not simply products of dominance. Yet domination and autonomy have no self-evident meaning. To be dominated by another is to be subject to his unjustified power. Thus, to define domination one must be able to distinguish the justified and the unjustified forms of power, and to trace the true limits ofautonomy. This requires judgments that have to rely to a greater or lesser extent on our established moral intuitions and practices. Excerpt from Knowledge and Politics (haven't read it but this helps me see why I will want to do so ... book about dominance, exploitation, choice ... "good" in human nature (fuzzy), and this phrase I think is kinda perfect ... "He has the power to evaluate you". ... evaluate ... excellent descriptive word, for me it implies so much more then "to judge".
Because of the fact of domination, moral agreement is often little more than a testimonial to the allocation of power in the group. (Book)
The second possibility is that God exists, and still cares. My own opinion is that the Hand that holds you suspended over my fiery pit doesn't abhor you, but has forgotten completely that It has anything in It. But God may still care, and, if that is so, you have but one epistemological problem, to learn the will of God. If there is no God, everything is permitted; if there is a God, it's even more terrifying, because then some things are not permitted, and men have got to find out which are which. Since He has the right and power to evaluate you, but no duty to do so, you are bravely right: you must pray.
But while you try to live as best you can until His revelation, perhaps you will accept some practical advice from me. Look around you at your species, throughout time and all over the world, and see what men seem to be like. Okay? Now take this hint from what you have seen: If He exists, Me too. (last two paragraphs from the review).
Well ... planning the Thanksgiving feast ... so much fun, I'll begin to post the recipes choices on that recipe page. For today though, last week's flu-ey malaise has me playing catch up on house work this week. Floors to mop, laundry to fold, leaves to blow ... all that, all that and more. I feel the need to plug in some rock and roll. Btw, I did not "love" Skyfall as I thought I would. All the elements one would expect from a James Bond movie were there, but the writing between the "events" seem lacking. It seemed to me to be a stack of "trailers" for the movie I thought it might be. Maybe I see too many movies ... . Not sure what I'm looking forward to seeing next, but I'm hoping for some happy little romance.
HT: John @ http://www.improvedclinch.com
That, in fact, is what is most interesting about your essay. You have written a book on ethics and politics--on how people act and ought to act, alone and together. You are awesomely familiar with the history of man and his thought on these matters. You are capable of brilliant synthetic thought. And yet you go from "total criticism" of what is, through total twaddle about what ought to be, only to end in total despair about any man's power, unassisted by divine intervention, to solve the problems you so brilliantly perceive and describe. Given who you are and what you know, it makes one think that there may be something involved that is just not humanly solvable. That, at any rate, is my opinion, and maybe I can convince you. It could be in both our interests, though perhaps in His too. (excerpt from "the review", I think it's a good note on the content of either/both the Book and the Review.) gosh the review is beautifully written, and I was happy to begin the day reading it (before coffee, while still tucked in ... pretty great).
Shared values carry weight only in the measure to which they are not simply products of dominance. Yet domination and autonomy have no self-evident meaning. To be dominated by another is to be subject to his unjustified power. Thus, to define domination one must be able to distinguish the justified and the unjustified forms of power, and to trace the true limits ofautonomy. This requires judgments that have to rely to a greater or lesser extent on our established moral intuitions and practices. Excerpt from Knowledge and Politics (haven't read it but this helps me see why I will want to do so ... book about dominance, exploitation, choice ... "good" in human nature (fuzzy), and this phrase I think is kinda perfect ... "He has the power to evaluate you". ... evaluate ... excellent descriptive word, for me it implies so much more then "to judge".
Because of the fact of domination, moral agreement is often little more than a testimonial to the allocation of power in the group. (Book)
The second possibility is that God exists, and still cares. My own opinion is that the Hand that holds you suspended over my fiery pit doesn't abhor you, but has forgotten completely that It has anything in It. But God may still care, and, if that is so, you have but one epistemological problem, to learn the will of God. If there is no God, everything is permitted; if there is a God, it's even more terrifying, because then some things are not permitted, and men have got to find out which are which. Since He has the right and power to evaluate you, but no duty to do so, you are bravely right: you must pray.
But while you try to live as best you can until His revelation, perhaps you will accept some practical advice from me. Look around you at your species, throughout time and all over the world, and see what men seem to be like. Okay? Now take this hint from what you have seen: If He exists, Me too. (last two paragraphs from the review).
Well ... planning the Thanksgiving feast ... so much fun, I'll begin to post the recipes choices on that recipe page. For today though, last week's flu-ey malaise has me playing catch up on house work this week. Floors to mop, laundry to fold, leaves to blow ... all that, all that and more. I feel the need to plug in some rock and roll. Btw, I did not "love" Skyfall as I thought I would. All the elements one would expect from a James Bond movie were there, but the writing between the "events" seem lacking. It seemed to me to be a stack of "trailers" for the movie I thought it might be. Maybe I see too many movies ... . Not sure what I'm looking forward to seeing next, but I'm hoping for some happy little romance.
Hypernova
- Gamma rays burst from either pole of a shattered star undergoing a hypernova explosion.
© Don Dixon, 2005.
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