tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post7463918650776354358..comments2023-10-10T08:02:18.073-04:00Comments on Rationally Speaking: Ecrasez l’InfameUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-90385428789429628592013-03-28T01:41:22.985-04:002013-03-28T01:41:22.985-04:00In 2 1/2 years, Tsunami hasn't gotten an answe...In 2 1/2 years, Tsunami hasn't gotten an answer to his devastating rebuttal. Not a peep by either the pseudo-philosopher Pigliucci or his followers. Tsunami, I salute you. You've reduced this philistines to silence. No small feat. Alphonsus Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07979620591831858572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-82611363597758096662010-07-15T11:24:54.347-04:002010-07-15T11:24:54.347-04:00...Now, having said all this, I'm going to say......Now, having said all this, I'm going to say that you simply don't understand the Pope, and insulting what you don't understand is neither cleverness nor intelligence, it's buffoonery. Benedict was not making the point that charity is bad; since the world gets the word "charity" (caritas, caritatis, Latin) and the idea of a theological selfless love from the Catholic Church, that's a fine claim, you'd think some of us would notice were he actually saying that, but he isn't.<br /><br />If you were giving money to a charity which you thought was supposed to be helping orphans in another country, and found out that that charity was shooting the orphans in the head to "free them from their misery" instead of doing something to actually help them, you'd be against it, I assume. That is the equivalent, according to Catholic moral teaching, in both gravity and character, to what certain pro-abortion charities are doing. And Christians, who are almost as confused as you, are helping these charities, not realizing that what they are doing actually harms the whole human person...but then again you guys are probably still materialists so you won't understand what I mean by that. The activists who support these charities are either willfully complicit or equally confused, so we pray for them too.<br /><br />The reason the investigation is kept secret, which I would expect a "rationalist" would understand, is that people are irrational and will automatically believe any accusation they hear whether true or false, depending on how they feel at the moment. So you keep the investigation secret in order to prevent the innocent priests (you know, the 98% of them who are innocent?) from getting unjustly crucified by idiots who presume to know what they have no way to know.<br /><br />"Dictatorship of relativism" is not an oxymoron for the same reason that "freedom of speech" is not. If everyone weighs every opinion with equal weight, there is no opinion that, however true and right, will ever be considered better. The conclusion of the conversation is always "well, that's YOUR truth, but mine is different", and thus men are turned into stubborn, irrational asses who can't be bothered to discuss the existence of some "humanity", let alone better its lot in any rational way.<br /><br />Lastly, as to Kant: There's more than one way to attribute something to someone: as a quality, or as a result. No, Kant was not himself a relativist, but the categorical imperative, founded in act upon nothing other (and I do mean nothing, considering his stance on inclinations) than some abstract "will to duty", was a hair shirt for its followers, because there's no point in doing it. The second you enjoy it, it's amoral. Nietzsche saw this in, of all things, Anti-Christ, and perceptively diagnosed (quite by accident) the problem with the state at the time of academic moral theology, that it was based on Kantian legalism. We have since excised the legalism from the manuals and moved back into Aristotle and Thomas' natural law theory, with which we are very happy.<br /><br />But, of course, you PROBABLY, being an Enlightenment buff, fancy Aristotle to be quaint but outdated, and if this is the case, do come back and try and talk once you've graduated from intellectual high school and maybe we can talk then. However, if this is delightfully not the case, and you think you can respond to my claims with the reason you so faithfully profess on your blog title, and not a Hitchensian or Dawkinsian sneer or ad hominem argument, then, you know, I'd be happy to answer any questions.Tsunamihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06796305955020035041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-91277994953313848892010-07-15T11:24:54.348-04:002010-07-15T11:24:54.348-04:00Professor, being a philosopher who, I assume, inst...Professor, being a philosopher who, I assume, instructs the young, you should know better than to twist words out of their context. A thing can be of some origin without having the character spoken of by that origin.<br /><br />For example, a child may speak against his parents, but this does not mean that he didn't learn to speak FROM his parents. Or a man may act like a Frenchman; but for all you know he could secretly be a Spaniard. If this were not the case, espionage would be a very silly endeavor.<br /><br />Likewise, while Benedict would not for an instant claim that the Enlightenment was Christian in character, the claim that it was Christian in origin is both technically, historically and semantically correct. Descartes was a very independent man, it's true, but he was also a Catholic, more or less devout depending on who's talking and which biography you read, but a Catholic. Furthermore, Isaac Newton was a Christian; hence the General Scholium at the end of his Principia, which, while it may assert that God has a body and His body is gravity, nevertheless must assert God to do so. Berkeley was an Anglican Bishop. Burke was an Anglican accused often of having Catholic sympathies. While one might try and argue that in the Discourse on Method Descartes was esoterically promoting atheism, the history of their lives is at least enough to say that they were educated in the Christian manner.<br /><br />Kant and Kierkegaard were both Lutheran pietists; Hegel and Nietzsche were educated in Catholic legal studies...practically ninety percent of the big name Enlightenment philosophers were either Christian or educated by Christians or both. And since to "be" Christian here means to be raised thus, that means all of them had at least their early education in a Christian household.<br /><br />I'm not going to get into the case of Bruno, who was not burned at the stake for his science but for being a resoundingly crappy Dominican (I study with them, and let's just say you won't see many pantheist Dominicans, because you'd have to be addle-pated in the extreme to conclude pantheism from anything we now say about God, rationally.) As for Galileo, the fact that you bring him up indicates that while you might fancy yourself a philosopher, I really hope you don't consider yourself a historian.Tsunamihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06796305955020035041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-89282913832942088792009-10-05T02:21:04.291-04:002009-10-05T02:21:04.291-04:00"Ecrasez l'infame!"
- What America ..."Ecrasez l'infame!"<br /><br />- What America sorely needs is a Voltaire.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17374622476823240202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-17975226370534940292008-04-29T06:52:00.000-04:002008-04-29T06:52:00.000-04:00No, I haven't been contacted for an interview, tho...No, I haven't been contacted for an interview, though I'm doing a podcast for Internet Infidels this Thursday night at 8 (I don't think it's live).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-79152038652144810012008-04-28T21:09:00.000-04:002008-04-28T21:09:00.000-04:00BTW,I was just going over my old Skeptics' Guide t...BTW,I was just going over my old Skeptics' Guide to the Universe episodes, and heard #3 again, when the NESS interviewed you. I was wondering if they've talked to you about being on an episode since then.<BR/>Anyhoo, congratulations on the wedding, and keep up the good work on this site.Troythuluhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05049366417814126101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-39706778743690973202008-04-26T14:44:00.000-04:002008-04-26T14:44:00.000-04:00Hey Massimo, one thing I couldn't help but notice:...Hey Massimo, one thing I couldn't help but notice: Is it just me, or does Ratzinger bear a suspicious resemblance to emperor Palpatine?Troythuluhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05049366417814126101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-35659103153964226402008-04-24T10:26:00.000-04:002008-04-24T10:26:00.000-04:00Congratulations Massimo.I'm surprised that in a di...Congratulations Massimo.<BR/><BR/>I'm surprised that in a discussion of the Dope and his morals that no one mentioned his comments in Brazil. Consider the effect that religion can have even in reviewing past genocides. Most of us would look in horror at a culture that came and enslaved, killed, and forcibly converted a huge number of the people already inhabiting a location. <BR/><BR/>However, the Dope's take on it was a bit different.<BR/><BR/>'American Indians had been "silently longing" to become Christians 500 years ago.'<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/5oyno3<BR/><BR/>Silently longing to be killed, enslaved, forcibly converted and have all of their natural resources exploited by a foreign country? I don't think so.<BR/><BR/>Only religion could create such a delusional view of the world.Misanthropic Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17568862343121579670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-49278771630871983482008-04-22T22:58:00.000-04:002008-04-22T22:58:00.000-04:00Hey!Parabéns, Massimo! :-)All the happiness to the...Hey!<BR/>Parabéns, Massimo! :-)<BR/><BR/>All the happiness to the two of you. Lucky guy! Well, I shouldn't say that, it takes away your merit... Let's go for lucky couple, then. That's more like it.<BR/><BR/>As for the original post's subject... Nothing to add, really. But Herr Ratzinger does remind me of <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Fester" REL="nofollow">Uncle Fester</A>...J. Marcelo Alveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09967299561849915314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-91320342683631588662008-04-22T12:45:00.000-04:002008-04-22T12:45:00.000-04:00Sheldon, since you asked, the NYT link to the arti...Sheldon, since you asked, the NYT link to the article is:<BR/><BR/>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/fashion<BR/>/weddings/20VOWS.html?ref=weddingsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-69510146304271535482008-04-22T12:25:00.000-04:002008-04-22T12:25:00.000-04:00Is there a link to this NYT article? Congratulati...Is there a link to this NYT article? <BR/><BR/>Congratulations Massimo!<BR/><BR/>And yes, I have always laughed at the tendency of some of the religious to condemn relativism by word, and practice it by actions.<BR/><BR/>Bill Maher said some hilarious things about the Pope during his New Rules segment. They are worth watching. Its the second one down on the linked page below. The first one on the page has some good commentary on "Obama's bittergate".<BR/> http://www.crooksandliars.com/index.php?s=Bill+MaherSheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03743116454273042629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-73266948780241698822008-04-21T15:41:00.000-04:002008-04-21T15:41:00.000-04:00My blog is somewhat of a tribute to that Voltaire ...My blog is somewhat of a tribute to that Voltaire quote about certainty being absurd ... that quote is actually my blog's subtitle<BR/><BR/>I've also borrowed the “Ecrasez l’Infame” sign off, but for <A HREF="http://dailydoubt.blogspot.com/2008/02/arianna-huffington-is-no-different-than.html" REL="nofollow">another reason.</A><BR/><BR/>I figure that the conservative movement generates as much - if nor more - reality revision than anything else at the moment so I guessed Voltaire would approve of the usage.Hume's Ghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551684109760430351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-55849132527745326722008-04-21T14:50:00.000-04:002008-04-21T14:50:00.000-04:00"And you don't look like a botanist at all!"Well, ..."And you don't look like a botanist at all!"<BR/><BR/>Well, I'll take that as a compliment! :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-75206543434791049682008-04-21T14:16:00.000-04:002008-04-21T14:16:00.000-04:00I'm glad someone mentioned the nuptials. A very he...I'm glad someone mentioned the nuptials. A very heart-warming article in the Times. Both of the ladies are lovely. And you don't look like a botanist at all! <BR/><BR/>Congratulations, and may you both be very happy.paul01https://www.blogger.com/profile/06306440944379183875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-17212961614146857872008-04-21T13:44:00.000-04:002008-04-21T13:44:00.000-04:00MJB,thanks for the congrats. Funny you noticed the...MJB,<BR/><BR/>thanks for the congrats. Funny you noticed the absence of references to my secular humanist activity from the NYT article. That was how it was pitched to them (by a friend who is a member of NYC Atheists), and both my wife and I stressed the *secular* nature of the ceremony. Oh well.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-43616001571650088122008-04-21T12:25:00.000-04:002008-04-21T12:25:00.000-04:00The amusing thing is that religious people are the...The amusing thing is that religious people are the ones who will likely start using relativism <B>against</B> Reason: their campaign against stem-cell research, abortion and euthanasia is framed as a binary choice between life and death. Not to mention Ben Stein's "teach the controversy" plot.<BR/>On a minor note, I believe (wikipedia-level knowledge) that the sentence <BR/>“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”<BR/>is credited to Evelyn Beatrice Hall (who wrote Voltaire's biography).Leonardo de Oliveira Martinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16384711695752944768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-89046160427703835062008-04-21T12:15:00.000-04:002008-04-21T12:15:00.000-04:00Congrats on your nuptuals. I wonder if fear of cr...Congrats on your nuptuals. I wonder if fear of criticism from the religious right prevented the Times from mentioning your contributions to the secular humanism and anti-creationism scholarship. These credentials seem to me would be one of the more interesting parts of your resume to non-scientists.MJBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02215936836061213219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-89026212762423349322008-04-21T11:06:00.000-04:002008-04-21T11:06:00.000-04:00Thank you. This is the first logical report of th...Thank you. This is the first logical report of the papal visit that I have come across. <BR/><BR/>How can a person be given so much credit, for doing absolutely nothing? Condemning the priest scandal is the <I>least</I> he should do. And 4 years after it originally broke???<BR/><BR/>I was literally trapped in my block (not allowed to cross any of the streets) several times over the weekend, simply because this man and his ridiculous entourage were passing by my building. It's utter silliness that someone who has contributed so little to the well-being of humanity, can cause so much of a fuss<BR/><BR/>DSDShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01278996581707374606noreply@blogger.com