Re: arguing with the tide

Daniel

You say:

"I also remember quite a bit of certainty from you on things such as the
nature of truth and universals, at least what the socially acceptable position
should be.  You seemed certain that Kurt was classy and you seem certain in your
values."

Then your memory is bad. I have never said *anything* anywhere about what
the "socially acceptable position should be" about anything. Frankly, I don't
care what the "socially acceptable position should be" about anything. This is
not a question which interests me whatsoever.

And I was actually arguing *against* certainty concerning truths and
universals, so your memory has it exactly backwards.

As to American politics, there is no question whatsoever that my political
opinions are just that, opinions. I have specific convictions, no doubt. But I
would never argue for them being established to any degree of "certainty" in
any absolute way.

I then offered an explanation of why, as a teacher, I have no claim to
universal truth, no message from any mountaintop, and can only offer my own readings
and singular interpretations using the text and the history that surrounds it
as best as I am able to support these readings. And yet you say that this is
"sounding certain." How? It seems to me quite the opposite.

As far as what applies to everyone else -- all I can say, personally, is that
I *certainly* don't trust teachers in the Arts and Humanities who announce
that they have the Truth or who act like they are establishing or discovering
the truth in any final or absolute way independent of ideology or rhetorics of
desire. And I would *certainly* advise students in classes where teachers
pretend in this way to be wary of a methodology that amounts to saying, at any
point, "Here is what the text means. Here is what the whiteness of the whale
stands for. The rose outside the prison house represents beauty (or promise, or
nature, or love, or whatever). Write this on the test if you want to get it
right." Because you are in a room that is moving quickly towards intellectual
fascism.

On the other hand, I suppose the tests are a lot easier to grade.

All the best,

--John

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Received on Wed Jul 16 15:38:14 2003