T: Coupla quick replies
Not sure why pragmatism is a bad thing.
T: Didn't mean it was bad, just an everyday kind of practical reasoning, which doesn't take you beyond the 'world' as given. Seeing as the given world is capitalist you need critique which is I insist 'well-informed'. The point about pragmatism is that it has certain ends in view. Communism (don't know if we agree about that word) is not an end that is in view in quite that way. If communism is an end, it is only as a logical outcome of the critique of capitalism, not as some state of affairs that can be described. Critique seems to me to have two parts: (a) unhappiness with what is, and (b) a theoretical understanding of what is.
information isn't theory and being informed doesn't mean you have any clue what theories are shaping your interpretation of information.
T: I meant informed by theory.
This whole elephant in the room that no one brings up much - what they mean by theory
T: No the real elephant that no-one wants to talk about is communism. People have been discussing huge amounts of theory here lately (I approve — great improvement over the past) about e.g. the role of credit etc. Theory is not a difficult idea in itself, it is basically explanation using concepts. To have a theory that can explain capitalism the most deeply and profoundly as a specific historical development is what I mean by having one's critique well-informed.
I use the term 'well-informed' to try to avoid the term 'correct', which kind of suggests the finished product, perfected, complete. There is no perfected theory IMO, just one that strains towards more meaningful practice. The more adequate the theory the stronger the critique. I personally think from what I've observed in South Africa that a weak theory devalues practice to the extent that it might be better not to be engaged at all. One memorable quote from Zizek I saw recently was about knowing when it's time to do nothing (I think he meant nothing besides reading and talking of course). To those 'activists' who have really dodgy ideas but say things like "at least I'm doing something" I want to reply "I wish you would do much less".
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