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July 04, 2009
Happy Fourth of July!
I complain a lot (probably more than I should -- although that seems to be the nature of blogging), so I like it when I find something that seems worthwhile. As a pragmatic libertarian, I enjoyed Roger L. Simon's Fourth of July thoughts, especially the conclusion: We should junk the liberal and conservative orthodoxies that have divided - and blinded - us for so long and go back not to Eighteenth Century America, but Nineteenth, to the days of that most American of philosophies - pragmatism. "The pragmatists rejected all forms of absolutism and insisted that all principles be regarded as working hypotheses that must bear fruit in lived experience." Now there's a thought that might brighten even grumpy me on the Fourth of July.Imagine. Principles as working hypotheses instead of dogmatic restraints. I like it so much I won't even get into the definition of principles! Happy Fourth! posted by Eric on 07.04.09 at 09:09 AM
Comments
I like it so much I won't even get into the definition of principles! It's good to know your limitations. Pragmatism is merely epistemological primitivism with delusions of intellectual grandeur. Another illustration is Simon's ignorance of the fact that pragmatism is a key element of both Leftist and conservative orthodoxies. Seerak · July 6, 2009 03:08 PM Post a comment
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"The pragmatists rejected all forms of absolutism and insisted that all principles be regarded as working hypotheses that must bear fruit in lived experience."
Ah, our noble Deist roots.
Empiricism as a way to discern moral truths was a fairly radical notion.