Polytheism, Universality and Truth. RR 2-4
1. Berthelot found an affinity between James and who? And traced the bifurcated roots of pragmatism to who?
2. Abrams says poetry can be a substitute for what? What definition "covers" Nietzsche and James?
3. Echoing Mill, James said what about demands and desires? Agree?
4. Nietzsche mistakenly thought what, about happiness? Do you agree that he was mistaken? How do James and Dewey differ from Nietzsche with regard to religious belief generally?
5. What text of James or Dewey does Rorty think "coheres best" with their shared view? What do you think of WJ's statement about "the end of religion"? (36)
6. In a democratic society everybody gets to worship what? What was "Dewey's god"?
7. In what way does Rorty see Clifford as religious?
8. RR thinks the universal desire for truth (or unconditionality) is better described as what? Why is the yearning for unconditionality unhealthy?
9. What makes us special, for Dewey? Why might that sound suspicious to Habermas and Apel?
10. What project "is democratic politics?
11. What do "we American college teachers do" when encountering religious fundamentalists?
If there's no such thing as Truth (capital T), what standard does one educate on? What is the purpose of education in a setting like college or K-12, if there's no innate Truth?
ReplyDeleteI feel like it can be perceived in his hypothetical response to protests of books read in schools, on page 79. He says that in order to be a citizen in our society (a democratic society(, you have to be educated. I also can't remember if it was this book or my Freedom of Expression class, but at some point in the past two weeks it was blatantly stated that a democracy must be educated to be true (small t).
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