tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862174023932643058.post6935037029840344900..comments2023-10-26T08:20:45.326-06:00Comments on Insignificant Wranglings: Why Not...Insignificant Wranglerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15950540902913057757noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862174023932643058.post-6574750665901157672008-09-08T11:18:00.000-06:002008-09-08T11:18:00.000-06:00@ wishydig: that would make a good bumper-sticker....@ wishydig: that would make a good bumper-sticker. Alas, the market for bumper-stickers quipping the rhetorical/philosophical divide seems low at the moment. <BR/><BR/>@ Casey: I think the question remains the same: under what authority can/do/should we assume/deny the label "wise"? I tend to agree w/ wishy that we need to pay attention to the desire to negate-- although when I see certain people "tonguing" the crowd, I admit to desire shutting them up. <BR/><BR/>@katherine: I might be ok with an educator adopting the role of mentor- as a student, I formed close relationships with many of my teachers. And I do think, perhaps this is where we differ, that education is moral instruction. Essentially, we are forging souls, as Plato liked to put it. Of course, I think the students should label someone as a mentor, its not a title one should bestow on themself!Insignificant Wranglerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15950540902913057757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862174023932643058.post-88973157615781222222008-09-07T08:32:00.000-06:002008-09-07T08:32:00.000-06:00Does a true philosopher actually call himself a ph...Does a true philosopher actually call himself a philosopher, or should that be a title bestowed upon him by others? A professor I know once called himself a mentor, which I thought was highly egotistical; is calling oneself a philosopher the same thing?Katherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07323527689736681187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862174023932643058.post-68232931317944430422008-09-05T05:48:00.000-06:002008-09-05T05:48:00.000-06:00"...for if we bestow the faculty of eloquence upon..."...for if we bestow the faculty of eloquence upon persons destitute of these virtues [grace, aptitude, congruity], we shall not make them orators, but give arms to madmen."<BR/><BR/>Isn't that the whole point of "Insignificant Wrangling?"...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I'm reading Augustine's Confessions right now, and was open to the chapter called "Cicero's Influence" when I read your post. So, here are two excerpts:<BR/><BR/>"Among such associates of my callow youth I studied treatises on eloquence, in which I desired to shine, for a damnable and inflated purpose, directed towards empty human joys. In the ordinary course of study I came upon a book by a certain Cicero, whose tongue almost all men admire but not his heart. This work contains his exhortation to philosophy and is called <I>Hortensius</I>. This book changed my affections. It turned my prayers to you, Lord, and caused me to have different purposes and desires. Al my vain hopes forthwith became worthless to me, and with incredible ardor of heart I desired undying wisdom."<BR/><BR/>And,<BR/><BR/>"I accordingly decided to turn my mind to the Holy Scriptures and to see what they were like. And behond, I see something within them that was neither revealed to the proud nor made plain to children, that was lowly on one's entrance but lofty on further advance, and that was veiled over in mysteries. None such as I was at that time could enter into it, nor could I bend my neck for its passageways. When I first turned to that Scripture, I did not feel towards it as I am speaking now, but it seemed to me unworthy of comparison with the nobility of Cicero's writings. My swelling pride turned away from its humble style, and my sharp gaze did not penetrate into its inner meaning..."<BR/><BR/>(Can't we assume a philosopher is a lover of wisdom? -- isn't the real question, "Is there wisdom; and what is it?")Caseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03820693522030084335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862174023932643058.post-25484616155359404032008-09-05T00:49:00.000-06:002008-09-05T00:49:00.000-06:00perhaps more important than asking who has the rig...perhaps more important than asking who has the right to assume the name philosopher is asking who should deny that right.Wishydighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.com