Re: Reason +/-Faith

From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Sun Dec 10 2000 - 20:23:23 MST


>> Ah! Spoken like someone who has never actually experienced *any* of those
>> things.

>Exactly. And I probably never will, unfortunately. It seems that all
>authentic experiences are being replaced with mediated fantasies and
>simulations... war is something that I read about. There are no revolutions
>left.

You could visit Timor, for example, and do some medical or other useful
work there. Plenty of blood and guts, and in a good cause.

>I've never really loved or hated anyone. I'm not sure if I'll even
>get the priviledge of dying. I don't feel like I'm even alive half the
>time. If these are all so terrible, why do I long for them?

This is perfectly understandable. It's what Tolstoy, who hated war, felt
surging through him despite himself as he saw a group of soldiers marching
by to the fife and the drum.

A book I was rather influenced by many years ago on this poignant dichotomy is

                  George Kateb, .

                  Utopia and its enemies.

                  New York, Schocken Books [1972, c1963]

It's unavailable at amazon, but might be in university library stacks.

Damien Broderick



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