Re: virus: Philosophy wars
Nathaniel Hall (natehall@lgcy.com)
Wed, 17 Sep 1997 08:32:59 -0600
Nathaniel Hall wrote:
>
> Tim Rhodes wrote:
>
> On Tue, 16 Sep 1997, Nathaniel Hall wrote:
>
> > Chirstianity took centuries to take
> > root but once it became firmly in place it caused a dark
> cloud to desend
> > on the face of Europe that held back civilization for a
> thousand years.
>
> How many hospitals have been built by Objectivists? And by
> Christians?
>
>
> What good would that hospital be if it wasn't for the minds devoted
> not to building hospitals but to discovering reality with reason as
> their only guide? Mother Teresa may have save many lives and stood
> forth as a living example of Christian values but who saved more
> people Mother Teresa or Louis Pasteur? He was only concerned with
> discovering the nature of infection and its causes yet his efforts
> save the lives of millions and even more untold suffering. Will he
> ever be honored with the badge of sainthood as Mother Teresa is almost
> surely to get?
>
> > That is why it is so Important Proffesor. That is why I
> fight. I fight
> > for the mind, for the right to think and I will take on
> anything that I
> > honestly believe is a threat to that. Such as making room
> for
> > "contradiction in a limited amount of areas". To me that
> is the
> > equivilent of saying "why not make room for a limited
> amount of poison?"
>
> Why, again, is contradiction a poison? I may well agree
> with you (you'd
> be surprised to know), but I'd rather have a strong enemy
> than a weak
> ally. *Show me* why consistency is of primary importance
> and I will
> agree.
>
>
> Suppose a man yearns for power and he has a profound hatred of jews.
> He makes multiple statements to many audiences carefully crafted to
> appeal to the particular group he is talking too. Suppose most of the
> people of this nation are committed to the thought that consistency is
> of little importance. They don't bother to weigh one speech against
> another and note the inconsistencies. They hold something higher, his
> perceived commitment, his guiding will, his whim, something as long as it's not
> consistency. Who really knows what his real intentions are, who even
> cares ? Maybe he even publishes a book which only a few take
> seriously. As long as he says what they long to hear when he speaks to
> them , that's the man that they want! Does this sound like a recipe
> for disaster? How many times has it happened before? How many times
> will it happen again?
>
> > I suspect Tim that you think of this as more of an
> intellectual game
> > than as something of importance.
>
> Nothing is more important than The Game(tm).
>
> > Sometimes I play too. But for today at least I'm not.
>
> In deadly seriousness, What would be different in my life if
> A did not
> equal A?
>
>
> Suppose that A was being alive. Then Not A is dead. Your life would be
> totally different because you'd be dead. (Let me guess your counter
> response: Hurray! Dead people have come back to life!)But the question
> was about *you*. And *you* would still be dead.
> The Nateman
>