RE: brain food

LIBERALISM: The art of feeling superior to suburban drones and blue-collar workers through purported logic and philosophical jargon.

-----Original Message-----
From: Symes, Kate
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 8:05 AM
To: Williams III, Bill
Subject: FW: brain food

And you thought your brother was the die-hard liberal.....

-----Original Message-----
From: jsymes [mailto:jsymes@gladstone.uoregon.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 5:36 PM
To: Symes, Kate
Subject: brain food

"it is commonly urged that, in a war between liberals and fanatics, the
fanatics are sure to win, owing to their unshakable belief in the
righteousness of their cause. this belief dies hard, although all history,
including that of the last few years, is against it. fanatics have failed,
over and over again, because they have attempted the impossible, or because,
even when what was aimed at was possible, they were too unscientific to adopt
the right means; they have failed also because they roused the hostility of
those whom they wished to coerce. in every important war since 1700 the more
democratic side has been victorious. this is partly because democracy and
empiricism (which are intimately interconnected) do not demand a distortion of
facts in the interests of theory. russia and canada, which have somewhat
similar climactic conditions, are both interested in obtaining better breeds
of wheat; in canada this aim is pursued experimentally, in russia by
interpreting marxist scripture.
"systems of dogma without empirical foundation, such as those of
scholastic theology, marxism, and fascism, have the advantage of producing a
great degree of social coherence among their disciples. but they have the
disadvantage of involving persecution of valuable sections of the population.
spain was ruined by the expulsion of jews and moores; france suffered by the
emigration of huguenots after the revocation of the edict of nantes; germany
would probably have been the first in the field with the atomic bomb but for
hitler's hatred of jews. and, to repeat, dogmatic systems have the two further
disadvantages of involving false beliefs on practically important matters of
fact, and rousing the violent hostility of those who do not share the
fanaticism in question. for these various reasons, it is not to be expected
that, in the long run, nations addicted to a dogmatic philosophy will have the
advantage over those of a more empirical temper. nor is it true that dogma is
necessary for social coherence when social coherence is called for; no nation
could have shown more of it than the british showed in 1940.
"empiricism, finally, is to be commended not only on the ground of its
greater truth, but also on ethical grounds. dogma demands authority, rather
than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of
heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it asks of its disciples that they
should inhibit natural kindliness in favor of systematic hatred. since
argument is not recognized as a means of arriving at the truth, adherents of
rival dogmas have no method except war by means of which to reach a decision.
and war, in our scientific age, means, sooner or later, universal death.
"i conclude that, in our day as in the time of locke, empiricist
liberalism (which is not incompatible with democratic socialism) is the only
philosophy that can be adopted by a man who, on the one hand demands some
scientific evidence for his beliefs, and, on the other hand, desires human
happiness more than the prevalence of this or that party or creed. our
confused and difficult world needs various things if it is to escape disaster,
and among these, one of the most necessary is that, in the nations which still
uphold liberal beliefs, these beliefs should be wholehearted and profound, not
apologetic towards dogmatisms of the right and of the left, but deeply
persuaded of the value of liberty, scientific freedom, and mutual forbearance.
for without these beliefs, life on our politically divided but technically
unified planet will hardly continue to be possible."

from "Philosophy and Politics" by Bertrand Russel