Yes, James is on your wavelength, judging from your previous posts.

Yes, James is on your wavelength, judging from your previous posts. — Paine

I didn’t know anyone was paying attention.

There have been many times when I wondered if I was the only one who retained any kind of institutional memory here.

There have been many times when I wondered if I was the only one who retained any kind of institutional memory here. — Paine

I try to remember where people are coming from, not always successfully. I appreciate that you did.

The State and the Tributary Mode of Production by John Haldon

Initial thoughts on it? Looks kind of interesting.

Also a History of Philosophy, Volume 2: The Occidental Constellation of Faith and Knowledge
by Jürgen Habermas

Another Country --German Intellectuals, Unification, and National Identity
Jan-Werner Muller

Also a History of Philosophy, Volume 2: The Occidental Constellation of Faith and Knowledge
by Jürgen Habermas — Pantagruel

Ha! Habermas figures large in the book I'm reading, about German nationalism after WW2.

Habermas looms large in modern philosophy for me.

:up: What do you like about him?

The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality, Wiliam Egginton. NY Times Review (gift link).

I'm a keen student sociology, especially symbolic interactionism. For me, Habermas' communicative rationality seems a logical development of that. Instrumental rationality is a core theme for me. I also like to read him as counterpart and contrast to Rawls' theories of distributive justice. His writing is dense but it is concise, and his knowledge encyclopedic. Also is a monumental work.

I'm a keen student sociology, especially symbolic interactionism. For me, Habermas' communicative rationality seems a logical development of that. Instrumental rationality is a core theme for me. I also like to read him as counterpart and contrast to Rawls' theories of distributive justice. His writing is dense but it is concise, and his knowledge encyclopedic. Also is a monumental work. — Pantagruel

Cool. My interest is in how a community recovers from a catastrophe related to nationalism. Apparently the narrative was that Germany has a tendency to embrace irrational themes, and the ideology of Hegel, Marx, and Heidegger fed into this. I think the real root of it goes much deeper than Hegel, though. I think it's in Christianity as well.

Rationality is also a narrative.

Rationality is also a narrative. — Pantagruel

It's a bunch of different narratives, in a way. There's rationality that's basically just fashion, there's rationality that's logical, etc. Do you agree?

Rational thought is simply thought which is logically consistent with its premises. People speak about premises being rational, but that's a harder things to measure. If rationality equals consistency, what can the starting premises of a movement of thought be consistent with? Tradition? Scripture? Science? Everyday experience?

I suppose I should say what I've been reading, which I usually never bother to do. I tend to read non-fiction in the morning and fiction at night, and I often have several books on the go. Currently reading Biosemiotics and Signs of Meaning by Jesper Hoffmeyer. Other books on the go Life's Ratchet by Peter Hoffmann, Beast and Man by Mary Midgeley, The Everpresent Origin by Jean Gebser, Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse and The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy.

Yes, rationality means different things to different collectives. My sociological interests tend to collide with philosophical anthropology, following that premise.

If rationality equals consistency, what can the starting premises of a movement of thought be consistent with? Tradition? Scripture? Science? Everyday experience? — Janus

:up:

I've been reading "The Republic" over the past couple of weeks, and i don't regret it, because it's pretty rediculous.

First of all, they talk about abolishing private property, because of how it divides people. Maybe some would argue this is ahead of its time, as it seems very proto-left-wing...

Second of all, they eventually define justice as minding your own business. I don't really know what to say about this, is being a good slave justice.

Third of all, there's lots silly plans, like training children in warefare by letting them watch the easier and safer battles, and giving them horses so they could escape...A lot of it sounds like the stuff of conspiracy theories, like arranging that the best citizens get to reproduce, while the bad ones wallow in confused incontinence...

The Lost Continent
by Edgar Rice Burroughs