tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post2838541197116713574..comments2023-12-17T19:35:07.459-08:00Comments on Bouphonia: Mind-Forg'd ManaclesPhilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-80146216563950288182007-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:002007-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00Great thinkers overreach, and give us great insigh...<I>Great thinkers overreach, and give us great insights. Lesser things trim their sails, tack to the winds, and keep our knowledge safe. "Safe" knowledge is dull and, kept safe too long, dead as well.</I><BR/><BR/>Agreed. Sums up my feelings precisely.Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-88525345173143006522007-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:002007-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:00A Foucault thread, and I wasn't notified? The jun...A Foucault thread, and I wasn't notified? The jungle drums of left blogistan are not working as well as advertised.<BR/><BR/>Agreed, with you and MF on the subject of polemics. In the name of giving them up, I'm about to post another lengthy one. Never could resist a self-inflicted paradox. Next I will simplify my life by purchasing yet another book to teach me how to do so.<BR/><BR/>I'm an admirer of Foucault's thought, and less concerned with his scholarship, which at some level devolves into turf wars and petty jealousies among people truly determined to debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin (not that the medieval scholars ever held such discussions, but it's an apt metaphor for the minutiae professionals can descend to). Accuracy of data has its place, to a point. I certainly question some of the anthropological assertions of Dom Crossan in his <I>The Historical Jesus</I>, not because I am an anthropologist, but simply because his theories based on that science seem too simply by half, from time to time. He stretches himself thin, in other words, but in pursuit of ideas which are themselves quite rich.<BR/><BR/>And so he's still worth the reading. Great thinkers overreach, and give us great insights. Lesser things trim their sails, tack to the winds, and keep our knowledge safe. "Safe" knowledge is dull and, kept safe too long, dead as well.<BR/><BR/>As Stanley Greenberg said of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson: Jonson wrote footnotes to his Roman inspired plays. Shakespeare laughed, and scribbled obscenities.<BR/><BR/>When was the last time you saw a film of a Jonson play?Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-62410236440294134222007-04-05T12:37:00.000-07:002007-04-05T12:37:00.000-07:00Apparently, Paletta thinks that if he throws in en...Apparently, Paletta thinks that if he throws in enough untranslated French phrases, people will assume he is learned and look no further. <BR/>It really is difficult to take such right wing (he writes for National Review) "intellectuals" seriously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-17308016783887508192007-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:002007-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:00...and Foucault. I know that feeling in myself and...<I>...and Foucault. I know that feeling in myself and remind myself of that error.</I><BR/><BR/>If you mean his comments about polemics, same here. I always tell myself I'll move away from polemics, but never quite manage to do it....Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-20540330593711582172007-04-05T04:03:00.000-07:002007-04-05T04:03:00.000-07:00...and Foucault. I know that feeling in myself and......and Foucault. I know that feeling in myself and remind myself of that error.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-42935040060256987602007-04-05T03:37:00.000-07:002007-04-05T03:37:00.000-07:00Well said Phila.Well said Phila.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com