Return to Living on the Inside...and Living on the Outside
There is a whole lot to digest in your essay, Arthur, and it raises a lot of provocative questions that I'm not sure I have the answers to. Among other things, you've put your finger on the distinction between "sympathy" and "empathy." But, if anything, I think this is relevant to your whole notion of paying attention to context, especially the context of the human agent. Values and experiences are agent-relative, to be sure; all the more reason to try our best to understand The Other's perspective (to put ourselves in the shoes, so-to-speak, of The Other).
The only other comment I'd like to make right now pertains to Ayn Rand. Yes, I've argued for many years that Rand exemplifies a contextual approach, which I have defined as "dialectical." This is Rand at her best. When I have argued that I am working to reclaim Rand's radical, contextual, dialectical legacy, I do so with full knowledge that she left behind, as well, decidedly nonradical, noncontextual, and nondialectical formulations. Some of my post-Russian Radical work has focused on those aspects where Rand's approach is decidedly "one-dimensional" (e.g., on issues of feminism, homosexuality, and so forth).
My only concern with some of Rand's critics is that they (not you) tend to "throw the baby out with the bathwater"---rather than just picking up the baby and placing her in a new tub with fresh water, so-to-speak.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say as you present additional essays for our consideration.
The only other comment I'd like to make right now pertains to Ayn Rand. Yes, I've argued for many years that Rand exemplifies a contextual approach, which I have defined as "dialectical." This is Rand at her best. When I have argued that I am working to reclaim Rand's radical, contextual, dialectical legacy, I do so with full knowledge that she left behind, as well, decidedly nonradical, noncontextual, and nondialectical formulations. Some of my post-Russian Radical work has focused on those aspects where Rand's approach is decidedly "one-dimensional" (e.g., on issues of feminism, homosexuality, and so forth).
My only concern with some of Rand's critics is that they (not you) tend to "throw the baby out with the bathwater"---rather than just picking up the baby and placing her in a new tub with fresh water, so-to-speak.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say as you present additional essays for our consideration.
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra on January 29, 2005 at 9:38 PM