But that requires advising of specific classics, not telling someone to read classics in general.
Perhaps we’re actually on the same page there. I don’t think Robin was saying “read classics in general”, so much as “go and spend some quality time with what you’d think is a truly awesome classic”. If he had been saying “go and spend time reading classics just because they had the ‘classic’ label stamped on them” I’d also disagree with him.
One issue is that judgments of “intellectually nutritious” vary from person to person in extremely idiosyncratic ways. For instance I’m currently reading Wilson and Sperber’s Relevance which comes heartily recommended by Cosma Shalizi but is more or less boring me to death. You never know in advance which book is going to shake your world-view to its foundations.
Keep in mind, you were my example of someone failing to learn the best arguments against gay rights, despite a sincere effort to find them. [...] How many (additional!) classics would you need to have read to be enlightened about this?
Maybe we need to make a distinction here between one-topic classics and broader-ranging, multi-topic classics. What I would need (and love) to read is the “Gödel, Escher, Bach” of moral theories. :)
But while I derived nourishment from Rawls Theory of Justice I wouldn’t necessarily seek out “classics” of communautarism (or other traditions making a strong case against e.g. gay rights), because I don’t feel that dire a need to expose my ideas on moral theories to contradiction. I’d be keen to get that contradiction in smaller and more pre-digested doses.
Usually when I have identified a topic as really, really important I find it worthwhile to round out my understanding of it by going back to primary or early sources, if only because every later commentator is implicitly referring back to them, even if “between the lines”.
I also seek out the “classic” in a field when my own ideas stand in stark opposition to those attributed to that field. For instance I read F.W. Taylor’s original “Scientific Management” book because I spent quite a bit of energy criticizing “Taylorism”, and to criticize something effectively it’s judicious to do everything you can not to misrepresent it.
Well, I’m not sure where we agree or don’t now. We certainly agree here:
But while I derived nourishment from Rawls Theory of Justice I wouldn’t necessarily seek out “classics” of communautarism (or other traditions making a strong case against e.g. gay rights), because I don’t feel that dire a need to expose my ideas on moral theories to contradiction. I’d be keen to get that contradiction in smaller and more pre-digested doses.
Yes, yes you should learn about these contradictions of your worldview from summaries of the insights that go against it.
But you also say:
I don’t think Robin was saying “read classics in general”, so much as “go and spend some quality time with what you’d think is a truly awesome classic”. If he had been saying “go and spend time reading classics just because they had the ‘classic’ label stamped on them” I’d also disagree with him.
But what’s the difference? If I’m already so lacking as to need to read (more) classics, how would I even know which classics are worth it? He gives no advice in this respect, and if he did, I wouldn’t be so critical. But then it would be an issue about whether people should read this or that book, not about “classics” as such.
Usually when I have identified a topic as really, really important I find it worthwhile to round out my understanding of it by going back to primary or early sources, if only because every later commentator is implicitly referring back to them, even if “between the lines”.
Did you regard gay rights as really, really important?
I also seek out the “classic” in a field when my own ideas stand in stark opposition to those attributed to that field. For instance I read F.W. Taylor’s original “Scientific Management” book because I spent quite a bit of energy criticizing “Taylorism”, and to criticize something effectively it’s judicious to do everything you can not to misrepresent it.
And at times we also discover that the eponymous mascot’s actual ideas are quite a lot different to those that we are rejecting. Then at least we know to always direct the criticisms at “Taylorism” and never “Taylor” (depending whether the mascot in question shares the insanity.)
Perhaps we’re actually on the same page there. I don’t think Robin was saying “read classics in general”, so much as “go and spend some quality time with what you’d think is a truly awesome classic”. If he had been saying “go and spend time reading classics just because they had the ‘classic’ label stamped on them” I’d also disagree with him.
One issue is that judgments of “intellectually nutritious” vary from person to person in extremely idiosyncratic ways. For instance I’m currently reading Wilson and Sperber’s Relevance which comes heartily recommended by Cosma Shalizi but is more or less boring me to death. You never know in advance which book is going to shake your world-view to its foundations.
Maybe we need to make a distinction here between one-topic classics and broader-ranging, multi-topic classics. What I would need (and love) to read is the “Gödel, Escher, Bach” of moral theories. :)
But while I derived nourishment from Rawls Theory of Justice I wouldn’t necessarily seek out “classics” of communautarism (or other traditions making a strong case against e.g. gay rights), because I don’t feel that dire a need to expose my ideas on moral theories to contradiction. I’d be keen to get that contradiction in smaller and more pre-digested doses.
Usually when I have identified a topic as really, really important I find it worthwhile to round out my understanding of it by going back to primary or early sources, if only because every later commentator is implicitly referring back to them, even if “between the lines”.
I also seek out the “classic” in a field when my own ideas stand in stark opposition to those attributed to that field. For instance I read F.W. Taylor’s original “Scientific Management” book because I spent quite a bit of energy criticizing “Taylorism”, and to criticize something effectively it’s judicious to do everything you can not to misrepresent it.
Well, I’m not sure where we agree or don’t now. We certainly agree here:
Yes, yes you should learn about these contradictions of your worldview from summaries of the insights that go against it.
But you also say:
But what’s the difference? If I’m already so lacking as to need to read (more) classics, how would I even know which classics are worth it? He gives no advice in this respect, and if he did, I wouldn’t be so critical. But then it would be an issue about whether people should read this or that book, not about “classics” as such.
Did you regard gay rights as really, really important?
And at times we also discover that the eponymous mascot’s actual ideas are quite a lot different to those that we are rejecting. Then at least we know to always direct the criticisms at “Taylorism” and never “Taylor” (depending whether the mascot in question shares the insanity.)