[lbo-talk] How Politics Ruined My Life: Was Fuck Hope

[Matthias Wasser]

On 1/16/09, Peter Ward <nevadabob at hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Striving at Meaningless...
>
> The form this discussion has taken reminds me of popular essay and "seminar"
> topics given by lecturers when I was a student. And I have good reason to
> suspect this prefence is typical of humanities "discourse" in general (I've
> sought in vain evidence to the contrary). It is asking a question (so
> interpreted at any rate) where it's impossible to imagine an answer, even a
> wrong answer...indeed it seems an answer isn't seriously sought.*
>
> I think that the humanities present one of the last safe havens for secular
> metaphysics, providing the verbal refuge of various "theories". Of course,
> at best it's a kind of watered down metaphysics, much as the arguments given
> by "Creationists" are watered down and muddled versions of various proofs,
> such as the First Cause argument, originally though up by philosophers in
> the employ of the church. In it's most extreme form, however, is postmodern
> theory, where so much contempt his held of meaning passable student essays
> can be written by a computer program and were fact and rational action are
> under direct assault.
>
> I wouldn't bother mentioning this fact, weren't it for it's political
> consequences. There is a determination to bring the same contempt for
> reality forth in confrontation major, even life threatening political,
> economic and environmental problems (though for an artist the related
> question of politics corrupting artistic integrity is a serious problem).
> This a fact Orwell himself was keen to point out and probably an important
> part of the reason he is found so "annoying" by left intellectuals,
> especially those employed in the humanities.
>
> *When I brought up an Orwell essay dealing with, in practical terms, the
> exact problem the original post raised, the question was not, Was the essay
> true or false or irrelevant? It was, Was Orwell a "good" writer or not? Does
> reading him cause displeasure or not? I think think this can only regraded
> are a willful effort to avoid thinking about the original question in terns
> of political--i.e., concrete--application. To remain orbiting in some
> "realer" ethereal intellectual sphere.
>
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Ugh, you could fill out a BINGO board with this stuff.