tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post595809168827002097..comments2024-03-29T03:19:09.227-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: MEA CULPARobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-90565379684403080392016-04-10T17:17:09.270-04:002016-04-10T17:17:09.270-04:00Marx may not have set foot in a factory, or he may...Marx may not have set foot in a factory, or he may have, I'm not sure the claim is provable, but he did have Engels constantly reporting on factory conditions to him, and he did have access to blue books. He also met with and taught workers through the worker's international.<br /><br /><br />Marx probably wasn't the greatest guy ever. But I also don't think he's the scumbag he's portrayed as, and many biographies demonstrate that point (e.g., Francis Wheen's, and the most recent Mary Gabriel's). His kids had nothing but fond memories and anecdotes about him. And before that is written off as too biased, let it be stated that many children of parents (myself included) do not feel compelled to laud their parents.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08250295324149056708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-14958639043624891442016-04-10T17:09:32.805-04:002016-04-10T17:09:32.805-04:00Nietzsche was not a sociopath.
https://www.ps...Nietzsche was not a sociopath. <br /><br />https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201401/how-tell-sociopath-psychopaths. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-63571411010886605962016-04-10T16:56:17.541-04:002016-04-10T16:56:17.541-04:00Let's get back to Battle. S. Wallerstein broug...Let's get back to Battle. S. Wallerstein brought up the interesting example of Nietzsche who did happen to boast about his intellectual insight. However, he realized that few of his contemporaries were capable of appreciating his work. Undaunted by this realization, he predicted that within a hundred years time people around the globe would write books about him and that major universities would endow chairs of philosophy in his name. He was indeed correct. Consider the following line from Ecce Homo: “It would contradict my character entirely if I expected ears and hands for my truths today: that today one doesn’t hear me and doesn’t accept my ideas is not only understandable, it even seems right to me.” As a hypochondriac and somewhat reclusive sociopath, Nietzsche could not keep it together enough to hold down a university position. Consequently, there really were no colleagues, students, or disciples around him who he could belittle. Battle, on the other hand, is no doubt highly aware that her vocal skills are held in high esteem by many people. There will always be people who will eagerly pay to hear her perform. Tolerating, excusing, or indulging her behavior is not only unfair to those who must work with her, it is ultimately unfair to Battle herself. No matter how great one indeed is, there is always room for self improvement. Jackson is right: "we can do better." People can and should take pride in their own talents and accomplishments. But it is difficult to justify using those talents and accomplishments to belittle others around them.<br /><br />-- JimJimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00826600172627425879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-57041401462509957762016-04-10T16:18:24.829-04:002016-04-10T16:18:24.829-04:00I don't know much about Marx's life, but...I don't know much about Marx's life, but did he have any friends besides Engels (who was more of a disciple or apostle than a friend, that is, a true peer)?s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-19536434177746325462016-04-10T15:21:54.584-04:002016-04-10T15:21:54.584-04:00Of course he would not have been a lesser social t...Of course he would not have been a lesser social theorist. He was the favorite son in his family, and pretty much an all around pig, so far as I can tell. We all recall what his mother said about him. "I wish Karl would write less about capital and make some." One of the curious things about him is that so far as I can tell, he never set foot in a factory, and yet he wrote more knowledgeably and accurately about what it was actually like to work in a factory than any other economist of his time. Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-40027851407450754492016-04-10T15:04:06.253-04:002016-04-10T15:04:06.253-04:00Would Marx have been a lesser social theorist if t...Would Marx have been a lesser social theorist if the people around him had insisted that he take out the garbage every night after dinner? Quite the contrary, the experience of taking out the garbage (that's a metaphor) might well have made him even more insightful about society.<br /><br />I've known lots of people who are too creative or artistic or poetic to follow petit-bourgeois conventions like keeping promises, paying back loans, being punctual, returning their library books or helping out with household chores, and it's a scam: as long as they find suckers who fall for their bullshit, they'll keep it up. When you call their bluff, as long as you've enough power to do that, they join the rest of the human race.<br /><br />While I agree with you that Marx is the greatest social theorist we know, I've never found him to be an especially attractive person to get to know (when I read, I always have a sense of the person I'm reading or meeting), and now I understand why. <br /><br />s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.com