I think this is a problem of Rhetoric. I dialed it back to Plato and Aristotle and have made my way up to “The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation”. I shall report back if I have any success as I make my way to the here and now. In the meantime I note the following: as a sceptic I hope I’m ready to cast aside any idea, however cherished, that fails of its purpose—that fails the acid bath test of falsifiability. I cast aside the snake handlers that kept Romney from being nominated and I cast aside the “empathy” that leads Sotomayor to believe that single Latina Moms make better judgments than white males. But what’s left? Is there really room for a party of Rationalists? Won’t the purest rationalist sell out his brethren for a better deal offered by the emotionalists? Isn’t that what a good rationalist would do? Are we ultimately the victims of our own good sense? Or are we able to deal with the negative externailities of personal rationalism. And if so, how? Alas, even Spock has now decided “if it feels right, do it!”
I think this is a problem of Rhetoric. I dialed it back to Plato and Aristotle and have made my way up to “The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation”. I shall report back if I have any success as I make my way to the here and now. In the meantime I note the following: as a sceptic I hope I’m ready to cast aside any idea, however cherished, that fails of its purpose—that fails the acid bath test of falsifiability. I cast aside the snake handlers that kept Romney from being nominated and I cast aside the “empathy” that leads Sotomayor to believe that single Latina Moms make better judgments than white males. But what’s left? Is there really room for a party of Rationalists? Won’t the purest rationalist sell out his brethren for a better deal offered by the emotionalists? Isn’t that what a good rationalist would do? Are we ultimately the victims of our own good sense? Or are we able to deal with the negative externailities of personal rationalism. And if so, how? Alas, even Spock has now decided “if it feels right, do it!”