>CB: Democracy is the working class as the ruling class, from the best
>philosophical standpoint. I guess your approach would explain why
>philosophy in the capitalist countries is worse and more boring than in
>the Soviet Union, given the lack of democracy the U.S., England , France
>, Germany, etc.
Chaeles God bless ya, were are never going to agree on these points or even make progress in dealing with then. So, you curl up with your Soviet-era handbooks of dialectical materialism, much pleasure may they give you. jks
>
> My impression ( from Chris Doss in part) is that the Russian and former
>Soviet masses are much more philosophical than the American. I don't know
>about France. Seems the approach in the SU was more popularization of
>philosophy than in the U.S. This too is evidence of a more democratic
>attitude to philosophy. In other the test of democratic philosophy is not
>in the specialized philosophy departments, but how popular is the interest
>in philosophy.
>
Might have to do more the Russian than with Soviet culture. Russians are also much more poetic than Americans. These are people who would literally fill a stadiym to hear a poetry reading. I am tarlking auto mechanics andfactory workers, not just the intelligentsia. The Soviets gwt some credit for providing universal education, wideraccess to these resources. Of course they get demerits for shooting, murdering, imprisoning, and torturing writers, and censoring philosophy and poetry they didn't like. Not very democratic, that.
>So , the test of philosophy is democracy.
Hmm. I am sympathetic to the sentiment, but I am not that Rortian. I guess I am realist enough to think that the test of philosophy is truth.
I take you to mean popular sovereignty by democracy.
>
>
That's the root sense, NB. not the dictatorship of one party.
jks
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