by Terry 21 Replies latest jw friends
Adler, although born a Jew, was a lifelong "pagan." He wrote How to Think About God, a very intelligent book in my opinion.
why specifically were you disappointed?
He was baptised into the Catholic faith before he died. Sort of like Constantine himself. :)
I am disappointed that he felt the need to give legitimacy to such a hierarchical and primitive organization. He was a philosophical ass-kissing apologist. Philosophy is a tricky business. It either spends too much time on epistimology or it falls into history on the one hand or science on the other. Although, Adler is brilliant he tends to be more oriented to history than science. Religion is for people who are in love with the past. Adler's gravitating toward history robbed Philosophy of it's "Wonder". Philosophy is at its best when it sorts out scientific endeavors and leads to an understanding of the actual world. Adler was satisfied with a possible God of the imagination rather than an actual God for which there is no evidence.
When I said I liked Adler I meant to say I liked his life. But, he was often a blow hard.
He was a philosophical ass-kissing apologist.
Examples?
When I said I liked Adler I meant to say I liked his life. But, he was often a blow hard.
Quotations?
Thanks!
BTT
The title TEN PHILOSOPHICAL MISTAKES caught my eye because I recognized from the Encyclopedia Brittanica's GREAT BOOKS of the Western World series Mortimer J. Adler. His "How to Read a Book" was a wonderful book I had been given by my favorite teacher in school.
Do you own a copy of the EB Great Books, Terry? I have both an early 50s Encyclopedia and also the Great Books, thanks to my grandparents.
I would otherwise never have known anything about such authors as Blaise Pascal, even having heard the name Pascal in computer education. I often quote Karl Marx to our socialists here - that is where my copy of Marx came from. I just engaged in a discussion about the Electoral College on another forum - and yes, again - I could quote Alexander Hamilton because I owned a copy of The Federalist. I probably only got through Latin class because it contained a copy of Virgil that translated the Aeneid.
It is a wonderful asset. I think everyone should own these even in these days of the internet. They should be cheap enough on disk.
Terry:
Do you believe in evolution? God? or both?
Adler believed in God and considered Darwinism a myth?
Belief in evolution isn't a sufficient reason to be taken seriously but it is a necessary condition.
Belief in evolution isn't a sufficient reason to be taken seriously but it is a necessary condition.
I could take many people seriously in their subject of expertise even if they did not believe in evolution.
I don't have time to qualify every term.
Am I to take a "creationist" seriously when he talks about "creationism"?
Yes about as serious as an expert on antique violins who may know everything about old violins but believes creationism.
I'm talking about a subject I take seriously.
Although I believe that to be take seriously you dont need to be an Atheist. There is people who havent had the opportunity of pondering on that, or just accepted as fact without question.
However it makes me wonder why an intellectual or a philosopher would believe in a GOD.
We can't make them ourselves unless Great Ideas are visible.What are you reffering to TERRY?
