The Pragmatist
Hamas is set to name a Pragmatist as its candidate for Palestinian Prime Minister. Apparently Ismail Haniya only hates Jews when it’s practical and utilitarian as opposed to more the formalist anti-Semitism of Khaled Meshal, Mahmoud Zahar and T.S. Eliot. For Haniya, anti-Semitism is not a fixed metaphysical reality. Only as a functional symbol or schemata designed by man to facilitate the use, or experience, of reality does hating Jews gain meaning.
Pragmatism was popularized by American philosopher William James, who had a bratty nephew named Israel he was always threatening to “drive into the sea.”
posted by Brian Bannon @ 6:36 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
This is very funny.
And informative.
Hadn't heard that about T. S. Eliot.
I'm not finished with the Guardian article yet, though. I was getting bogged down in the guy's language. But I'll go back to it.
Yes, I've been reading more. Very interesting, indeed. I love reading philosophical theory, I just need it broken down like this so I'm not overwhelmed. Loved it in school, had a great teacher, made it all very accessible.
That whole article on William James is very interesting, too. I love the part about how the Principles of Psychology was shortened to A briefer Course, then down to The James, and an abridged version of that simply called The Jimmy. Comical.
Gertrude Stein was one of his pupils--at Harvard via Radcliffe. An opaque intellectual concept is an opaque intellectual concept is an opaque intellectual concept.
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