Philosophical Landmines (2013)

Re:Philosophical Landmines (2013) by analog31 on Saturday January 30, 2021 @10:13AM (#25969686)

I believe littering the ground with philosophical landmines is possibly deliberate. I attribute to a passage I read by Imre Lakatos, the idea that if you can force people into a paralysis of endless debate over the nature of truth, you create a power vacuum that can only be filled by people who are capable of acting in the absence of debate and truth, such as thugs and tyrants.

I think this is the primary reason for the "anti truth" movement today.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Philosophical Landmines (2013) by FriedrichN on Sunday January 31, 2021 @07:50AM (#25978428)

This reminds me of Schopenhauer's (rather funny) essay The Art of Being Right where he exposes various strategies by which people can be right, without actually being right.

You can find an English translation here: http://coolhaus.de/art-of-controversy/

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Philosophical Landmines (2013) by analog31 on Sunday January 31, 2021 @06:48PM (#25983864)

My goodness he won the internet before it was even invented.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Philosophical Landmines (2013) by mannykannot on Saturday January 30, 2021 @08:04PM (#25974684)

> I believe littering the ground with philosophical landmines is possibly deliberate.

That was my reaction too. It happens across the political spectrum, and avoidance of p-landmines only encourages their further use.

One should pick when and where to make a stand, and seek conciliation, but if you are always avoiding other people's outrage, you will end up where those others want you to be.

From the article: "Anyone who hangs out on 4chan can confirm that this is the approximate shape of most thread derailments." Well, that might well be one of the arenas where you don't need to make a stand.

[ Parent | on HN ]