> >I suspect Justin's fondness for Posner is not unrelated to his
> >suggestion that philosophy should be viewed as entertainment.
>
> Having a W.H. Henley moment, are we Carol? "Life is real, life is
> earnest"...
I'm sure I'm not the only pedant who will rush to point out that you've juxtaposed Henley's name (given recent attention by the late Timothy McVeigh) with a line from Longfellow's "Psalm of Life":
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!--
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul...
--which leads us, rather conventionally, back to theology, with a comparison to which you started. But what good is theology if it isn't fun? I certainly have no reason to do it if it isn't fun. But the poet says,
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave...
I'll spare you the rest. --CGE