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06-15-2002, 09:09 PM | #21 |
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Why the "I am humbler than thou" argument? It has nothing to do with pride or humbleness, but whether which side has the Truth per se.
Just because one is humble does not mean one is right. A skeptic was practicing Christian morality par excellence when he indulges in the claim of "humbleness". A skeptic should seek knowledge in the face of all the oppositions that said knowledge is inattainable. And such an attitude is necessarily going to be construed as arrogence by those who gave up the search. Perhaps all is futile. But so what? Humbleness and skepticism does not mix. A Socrates was called arrogent when he challenged the prevailing Athens beliefs. And a skeptic would most likely be called arrogent by the Christians in the US society. "Humbleness" is not a virtue in-itself. Its connotation with authority adherence, with social conformity, and its rejection of challenges and curiosity stinks of weak-mindedness. [ June 15, 2002: Message edited by: philechat ]</p> |
06-15-2002, 10:36 PM | #22 | ||||
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06-16-2002, 05:05 AM | #23 | |
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06-16-2002, 05:49 AM | #24 | |
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LordMoneyG:
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I might be properly called "arrogant" by some theists. But I think my rationale for life is more along what touchy-feely people snidely refer to as "intellectualizing" - evidently a very bad thing to do. |
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06-16-2002, 06:25 AM | #25 | |
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Also, all quests for knowledge would be construed as arrogent. Many things (like space exploration or magnetic wave usages) was originally considered impossible by many. But look what we got now. Oops. "Pride" is a virtue in Aristotlian ethics. I would say that those who exalt humbleness as virtue-in-itself are followers and not creators. [ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: philechat ]</p> |
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06-16-2002, 09:04 AM | #26 | ||
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The virtue of "humility" is focused on recognizing that, while you're unique, so is everyone else, and even though you're unique, you could be replaced by any of a billion other unique things. I think your characterization of this virtue as a trait of "followers" is a poor one; in fact, it often encourages people to be good leaders, because they are leading *for the followers*, not for themselves. |
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06-16-2002, 09:30 AM | #27 |
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The "all men are created equal" thing is not even a value I hold, and I think very few Christians would say that "all religions are created equal" either.
One considers something as having more value when one chooses a particular ideology or action. And by affirming certain values, one is not being humble about it. Humility is a disguise and an avoidence of individual responsibility of his/her choices. The sentence "I don't know and you don't know either. But the Christian God exists" implies a positive assertion of the second sentence, which directly contradicts the supposed "humility" in the first sentence. Humility affirms nothing--it seeks to debase one's choice in the eyes of others so that one can avoid conflict with the other. Humility in leaders is a pragmatic tool : For leaders want followers to listen to him, and to have the followers agree with him, leaders "pretend to" listen to the advice of the followers without actually believing him/herself the same level as the followers. To exalt humility as virtue-in-itself is the supreme performance of bad faith. One never makes decisions based upon "what makes one the most humble", but decisions that are the most valuable (therefore not humble, but affirmative) to oneself. [ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: philechat ]</p> |
06-16-2002, 10:03 AM | #28 | ||||
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06-16-2002, 10:11 AM | #29 | |
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06-16-2002, 11:06 AM | #30 | |
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