2. How did George Eliot typify the Protestant freethinker?
3. What would not have occurred to Mill, Bentham, and other advocates of pleasure as the end of life?
4. What must we remember about life in the middle ages, and about history in general?
5. Why did Tom Paine take up the American cause?
6. What religious duties did Paine attest?
“In a time when both rights and reason are under several kinds of open and covert attack, the life and writing of Thomas Paine will always be part of the arsenal on which we shall need to depend.” ― Christopher Hitchens, Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
Please post yours.
- Do you agree with James Mill about evil? 118
- If you're godless, which god do you not believe in - Protestant, Catholic, both, other,...?
- How would you apply Russell's distinction to the authors we've read? Is de Botton, for instance, a Catholic freethinker? Is Kitcher a protestant?
- What do you think of "moral holidays"? 120
- Do you agree with what James Mill taught his son about "who made me"? 120
- Would Voltaire have been a Deist if he'd come along a century later (in Darwin's time)?
- Are you a cheerful skeptic in the style of Voltaire and Montaigne? 122
- Considering Russell's remarks on Comte, what do you imagine he'd say about de Botton's School of Life? 122
- Would you support a Santayana Church built on the precepts of Lucretius and Democritus? Are you tempted to "worship matter," on the hypothesis that it has given rise to all good things? 122
- Is it true that Protestants like to be good and Catholics like to be bad, etc.? 123
- Should secularists have any use at all for the concept of "sin"? 124
- Do you regret the absence of chivalry in our time? Do you take the romantic view of it, or the view that it was a game invented to relieve the boredom of the upper classes? 129
- Do we need a new Dance of Death, or public festivals that insistently acknowledge our mortality (presuming Cinco de Mayo doesn't quite do that)? 130
- Are accessible ("simple, direct, unlearned") philosophers more dangerous than sophisticates and rigorous analysts? 134 What's the proper place of "common sense" in philosophy?
- Could a modern-day pamphleteer have the impact of a Paine? 137
- Do you admire Paine's parting words to the clergymen who visited him on his deathbed? 146
Part of the reason for the Tennessee state legislature's move re the bible is that the state makes money printing it
"Is it true that Protestants like to be good and Catholics like to be bad, etc.?"
ReplyDeleteI think the phrasing of the question has the true issue masked away. I think both wish to "be good", but Catholics carry the heavy burden of guilt built into their theology and praxis. Therefore, Catholics understand they are "bad" more so than Protestants that do in they do not carry around their guilt attached to their beliefs to such an extent as the latter.
Or am I just off base?
I would agree with this completely. Differences in theology.
DeleteDo you regret the absence of chivalry in our time? Do you take the romantic view of it, or the view that it was a game invented to relieve the boredom of the upper classes? 129
ReplyDeleteI think the romantic form of chivalry still exists today just in smaller numbers, which I do not regret. However I rejoice at the notion the chivalry to relieve boredom is no longer here. Instead of nobles we have the tabloid stars.
Quiz question: What three heads does Paine say governments can be comprehended under?139
ReplyDeleteSuperstition, power, and the common interest of society and the common rights of man.
Delete"Should secularists have any use at all for the concept of "sin"?"
ReplyDeleteThis is an intriguing concept...I think it's based on the idea that we enjoy the idea of sinning more than the sin itself. Therefore, make something harmless a sin and people can disobey that to get their thrills. Kind of like moral jaywalking.
Ultimately, I'd like to think our goal in living good lives should be less dependent on psychological tricks to bring it about.
Discussion Question
ReplyDeleteRussell notes that "Paine's appeal...was to common sense." But this is not the first time common sense has been mentioned. What do you think common sense is? Do you believe it exists? How does it apply to philosophical arguments about God?
DQ:
ReplyDeleteDo you consider yourself to be a member of the "ordinary people, concerned with ... daily bread rather than with the great themes of which historians treat"? Are most people in that group?
Quiz Question
ReplyDeleteWhat does Paine's importance in history consist of?
Quiz Question
ReplyDeleteTrue or False? Thomas Paine never accepted any money for his work?
True.
DeleteDo you regret the absence of chivalry in our time? Do you take the romantic view of it, or the view that it was a game invented to relieve the boredom of the upper classes? 129
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that chivalry still exists today, but that it is a lot harder to come by. And I think a lot of it's disappearance has to do with society/culture influences on how people are supposed to be treated. I guess now in our time period, chivalry is more mysterious and gives us the idea of a more hidden romance somewhere out there waiting for us. (even though that sounds cheesy)
"Should secularists have any use at all for the concept of "sin"?"
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the concept of "sin" only applies to religious folks. Obviously the ways in which people view sin, and understand it depends on who you are, but I know secularists who believe that people are consciously aware of "doing wrong"and that they have choices to make. To me that is just like my idea of sin.
"Is it true that Protestants like to be good and Catholics like to be bad, etc.?"
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with his reasoning for this idea, but I will add that, in my anecdotal experience, Protestants carry more guilt (emphasize original sin and personal responsibility, have less organized Churches, lack confessions, have no saints to look to, etc.)
There is also a distinction between the way that they believe Salvation is achieved. Protestants believe in Salvation by faith alone, while Catholics believe that Salvation is a process that must always be worked on through doing good works and participating in sacraments. So, a Catholic person will likely believe that Salvation can be lost and regained. While this may seem to offer a more personal experience for the Catholic, it may also have the effect of adding to the social nature of the religion (doing good works in the community as a representative of their Church and participating in the sacraments during group ceremonies). I'm not saying that Protestants don't also do those things, but that these, along with the Catholic worldview, tend to make that faith more outward facing.