1. 13 November 2006

    787 days ago

    It has been said, only too truly, that Plato was the inventor of both our secondary schools and our universities. I do not know a better argument for an optimistic view of mankind, no better proof of their indestructible love for truth and decency, of their originality and stubbornness and health, than the fact that this devastating system of education has not utterly ruined them. In spite of the treachery of so many of their leaders, there are quite a number, old as well as young, who are decent, and intelligent, and devoted to their task. ‘I sometimes wonder how it was that the mischief done was not more clearly perceptible,’ says Samuel Butler, ‘and that the young men and women grew up as sensible and as goodly as they did, in spite of the attempts almost deliberately made to warp and stunt their growth. Some doubtless received damage, from which they suffered to their life’s end; but many seemed little or none the worse, and some almost the better. The reason would seem to be that the natural instinct of the lads in most cases so absolutely rebelled against their training, that do what their teachers might they could never get them to pay serious heed to it.’

    Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies

  2. 28 September 2006

    The Open Society and its Enemies

    Karl Popper

    832 days ago

    Assigned as part of a political philosophy class I’m taking. A modern look at and criticism of Plato’s The Republic, as well as a good thinking-through of political philosophy.

    the fundamental historicism prejudice – the doctrine that the social sciences, if they are to be of any use at all, must be prophetic. 5

    [Heraclitus] visualized the world not as an edifice, but rather as one colossal process; not as the sum-total of all things, but rather as the totality of all events, or changes, or facts. ‘Everything is in flux and nothing is at rest’, is the motto of his philosophy. 12

    The transition to oligarchy is completed when the rich establish a law that ‘disqualifies from public office all those whose means do not reach the stipulated amount. This change is imposed by force of arms, should threats and blackmail not succeed.’ 41

    The transition from democracy to tyranny, Plato says, is most easily brought about by a popular leader who knows how to exploit the class antagonism between the rich and the poor within the democratic state, and who succeeds in building up a bodyguard or a private army of his own. The people who have hailed him first as the chamption of freedom are soon enslaved; and then they must fight for him, in ‘one war after another which he must stir up… because he must make the people feel the need of a general’. 43

    And a quick aside, for at page 63 I was reading while watching Office Space and scribbled this in the margin: You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair… they made the Jews wear them. Peter, Office Space

    Man has created new worlds – of language, of music, of poetry, of science; and the most important of these is the world of the moral demands, for equality, for freedom, and for helping the weak. 65

    Plato was longing for the lost unity of tribal life: Only quoted because I came across John Zerzan earlier today via anarchia. I guess there are different ways of working towards a goal.

    Platonism vs. The humanitarian theory of justice, 94

    the alleged clash between freedom and security, that is, a security guaranteed by the state, turns out to be a chimera. For there is no freedom if it is not secured by the state; and conversely, only a state which is controlled by free citizens can offer them any reasonable security at all. 111

    What we need and what we want is to moralize politics, not politicize morals. 113

    Whatever authority I may have rests solely upon my knowing how little I know. Socrates, 130

    The authoritarian will in general select those who obey, who believe, who respond to his influence. But in doing so, he is bound to select mediocrities. for he excludes those who revolt, who doubt, who dare to resist his influence. 135

    A zing on modern schooling:

    Instead of encouraging the student to devote himself to his studies for the sake of studying, instead of encouraging in him a real love for his subject and for inquiry, he is encouraged to study for the sake of his personal career; he is led to acquire only such knowledge as is serviceable in getting him over the hurdles which he must clear for the sake of his advancement. In other words, even in the field of science, out methods of selection are based upon an appeal to personal ambition of a somewhat crude form. [...]


    It has been said, only too truly, that Plato was the inventor of both our secondary schools and out universities. I do not know a better argument for an optimistic view of mankind, no better a proof of their indestructible love for truth and decency, of their originality and stubbornness and health, than the fact that this devestating system of education has not utterly ruined them. In spite of the treachery of so many of their leaders, there are quite a number, old as well as young, who are decent, and intelligent, and devoted to their task. 135

    Ouch.

    Utopian vs. Piecemeal social engineering, 158…. This is almost worth it’s own entire post, we’ll see if I feel like coming back to it anytime soon.

    The Abstract Society. 174

    Pericles on Democracy. 186

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