From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Tue Jun 19 2001 - 09:52:33 MDT
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Samantha Atkins wrote:
> Mark Walker wrote:
> >
>
> > >>
> > I find a certain irony in your call for a renewal of philosophy yet your
> > posts seem to lack the careful analysis that is the hallmark of the great
> > philosophers from Plato to Kant. For a start, what do you mean by
> > 'philosophy'? When you say that socialists and Nazis "showed respect for the
> > power of philosophy" you cannot mean respect for the great tradition of
> > philosophy started by Plato.
>
> Actually, yes, you can point to a pretty direct line of
> philosophical thought from Marx through Engels through the
> Idealist school of philosophy all the way back to Plato. This
> doesn't mean that all or most Nazis or socialists had strong
> philosophical roots. But it does show something of the power of
> philosophy and its importance.
The Nazis and Communists can be tracked back to Plato by their philosophical
orientation as well, as Greg Burch has noted in his presentation at Extro5, that
they all represent advocates of stasis in a pastoral utopia ruled by
'those-that-know-best'.
> >Presumably you mean something like an
> > individual or a group's core beliefs and values, e.g., when tv commentator's
> > refer to a football coach's philosophy they usually are not speaking about
> > his view on the mind/body problem but rather (say) the value he places on
> > the running game. So let me put this to you in the form of a dilemma: If you
> > mean 'philosophy' in the sense of the project that Plato, Kant, and Dewey
> > were pursuing, why should we believe that this project is necessary or
> > desirable for transhumanism? If you mean 'philosophy' in the sense of a
> > common core of values and beliefs why should we think this is necessary or
>
> This is a false and sterile casting of the question.
Besides the fact that it's been done. There have been significant essays by Max
More, Greg Burch, and others that are all online that outline transhumanist
philosophy. If you have read them, but dismiss their work, then you must not be a
transhumanist.
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