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SHINING_ARMOR

                                               June 12, 2011

  About Dreyfus & Kelly's
  "All Things Shining"...            ALL_THINGS_SHINING


  Gary Willis outlines Shining's message:
                                                [ref]
  "It is hard for modern people to
  respond spontaneously to whooshes
  because our culture unfortunately
  invented 'inwardness,' the search
  for deeper meanings under the
  surface-- ... "

  "... Homer's heroes are open to
  the gods, to sacred 'moods' (by                   [ref]
  which they seem to mean impulses),
  which frees one from the anxiety       Kelly objects to the word "impulses";
  of choice. Like natural athletes,      "This is precisely the kind of       
  Homer's heroes do not 'overthink'      inner, psychological account         
  or try too hard."                      we are against."                     
                                                                              
  "In this view, the characters in          But a "sacred impulse" is no 
  Homer's epics just go with the            different from a psychological
  flow of the god-induced moods,            impulse: Kelly is quibbling.
  and thus they escape the anxiety
  of choice."                                    Perhaps Kelly dislikes
                                                 the word "impulse"
     Gary Willis is scathing                     Because it might imply
     in his discussion of the                    a degree of volition?
     author's ignorance of
     the great works of                          Dreyfus and Kelly prefer
     Western culture, e.g.                       the idea that we're
     he claims they're                           helpless... they say
     relying on a discredited                    that trying to take
     understanding of Homer.                     responsibility for your
                                                 life leads to suicide.
     Kelly claims that Willis
     has misrepresented them.                         SHINING_EXISTENTIALISM
     Heigh Ho.

     [ref]

          Having read the relevant
          chapter of their book, I can't
          see what they're complaining
          about.  Substantially
          they said just what Willis           Kelly objects to Willis'
          claimed they said.                   "Emperor New Clothes"
                                               framing, but that robe
                                               Kelly is drawing over his
                                               butt looks awfully thin.



    At the outset (p.3), they
    comment approvingly on
    unthinking heroism, and
    complain "This sense of
    certainty is rare in the       (Outside of
    contemporary world."            Republican
                                    politics.)
    Then a little later (p.82)
    they comment glowingly:

      "In general, the
      Homeric Greeks had
      almost no sense of            Dreyfus & Kelly accuse
      an inner life of the          Gary Willis of hidden
      sort that seems so            motives, calling him a
      obvious to us."               "defender of the
                                    Catholic faith", which
        That's pretty much          neatly explains his         (It doesn't
        the general thrust.         vitriol.                    explain mine,
        Too much thinking                                       though.)
        hurts your head.               Dreyfus strikes me as
                                       someone who likes to
                                       dismiss the opposition
                                       by assigning a label,
                                       e.g. philosophers who
                                       disagree with him are
                                       "Kantians"

                                       (Dreyfus is a "labelist").


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