I haven't linked to him in a while, but that isn't to say that I don't continue to give thanks for
Norm, this time on the matter of John Gray and his view of the Enlightenment. And just to note: my best theory is that my feelings of gratitude aren't a matter of faith either.
I remember when Straw Dogs came out. I played with the idea of getting a copy for my sister, pretending it was the new one from the Men-Mars/Women-Venus fella - "bit of a change of direction". But at that price, the joke wasn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteI quite like John. It's rare to find a decent, proper Conservative* nowadays amongst all the neo-cons**. True, he's probably best read with an Eeyore voice, but (to me) he makes many a good point.
*Just Gray, Matthew Parris and possibly Portillo, it seems.
**I was taught in politics A-Level that a core difference between the left and right was the left believing humanity was inherently good, and the right, well, not that they were bad as such, but certainly flawed and that, because of this, the left thought Utopia possible whereas the right thought it best to muddle along and patch up what we can (both of which are probably just differing interpretations of Christianity anyway). Looking around at present politics, it's hard to see the latter view represented anywhere.
Apart from suggesting that one of Gray's good points is that he believes that humans are flawed and that society should be patched up, I am not clear on any other of his other positive arguments. Could you elucidate?
ReplyDeleteI actually think Norm makes some pretty trenchent critiques of Gray's often underhand method of attempting to undermine the opposing argument, whilst also attempting to convey his own, ill-examined memes, all the while without putting out any sort of rigorous positive counter-argument.