From: Matt the Enraged Endorphin (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Sun Feb 09 2003 - 22:06:31 GMT
DMB,
Let me try it this way:
From a philosopical standpoint, if we follow Plato in trying to hold
reality and justice in a single vision, then we will get things like The
Republic. That means we'd have little Platoes running around trying to
argue dialectically about the Good in order to present his conception of
justice (i.e. "to each their own," a very, very watered-down version of
Plato's conception of justice). Rorty suggests that we don't want this
when debating on the floor of the Senate.
From a political standpoint, if we follow Rorty in making a public/private
split (which is what Jefferson was talking about), then we will allow
philosophers like Plato to hold reality and justice in a single vision, we
just won't allow them to talk about the Good on the Senate floor.
The two standpoints to not necessarily follow from the other. Rorty
suggests that the only way to view philosophy as he does is to meditate on
the history of philosophy. He suggests that you could view politics as he
does by meditating on the history of philosophy, but more often then not,
the people you would read endorsing a public/private split (Smith, Hume,
Kant, Hamilton, Jefferson, Mill, Constant, etc.) were not meditating on the
history of philosophy when they made their decision, but on the history of
politics and that this is the best way to reaffirm your sense of this
practical division.
So, from a political standpoint, the "split" of the self into public and
private sides isn't really a metaphysical split, it is a practical one
where we decide not to let God-talk or Quality-talk onto the Senate floor
in the name of expediency and freedom of religion (which, following John
Rawls, can be updated to the freedom of philosophy).
Matt
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