A call for a new Age of Enlightenment

Posted under hglindquist to the Paul Krugman forum in the NYTimes website, Friday, July 29, in response to his Op/Ed column "French Family Values":

hglindquist - 10:39 AM ET July 29, 2005 (#42768)

Once again we must free ourselves from the bonds of delusional ideology and turn to the rational evaluation of our world, brilliantly practiced a few steps beyond the threshold of civilization so many centuries ago in Athens by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other slightly less well known Greeks.

The heritage of the world's philosophers from before Athens to today, provides a firm foundation for a return to reason. Let us not shy away from our task because it is difficult. Those who have gone before us have in many instances given their very lives that we may enjoy the freedom to think rationally about what we are doing, to question what is being done in our name.

Are we to be led by those who would deny us our heritage? Are we so weak and fearful that we would not be free? If I am not free to think, I am not free.

Gather your friends and acquaintances as we do on Tuesday evenings at the Symposia Salon in Greenwich Village: West Village Conversation Group, and question your world. We can fuel the flame of reason in a new Age of Enlightenment.

When:
7:00 pm, Tuesdays

Where:
Caffe Dell Artista
46 Greenwich Av.
between 6th and 7th Avs.
New York, NY

Map and Directions

The West Village discussion group is open to anyone who loves to make new friends and find ways of improving personal or community life. The meetings have rotating facilitators who come up with specific subjects, but people who attend shape the conversation and this gives a different flavor to every meeting. The discussion is respectful, open, and creative and there is no pressure to contribute. Everybody is welcome.

There is a minimum $5 order per person.

Contact: Corneliu Rusu
Email: info@symposia.us
Website: www.symposia.us

Some references:

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the internet, describes the Age of Enlightenment in part as,

The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason.

The term also more specifically refers to a historical intellectual movement, "The Enlightenment." This movement advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system of ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge.

In Invitation to Philosophy: Issues and Options by Stanley M. Honer, Thomas C. Hunt, and Dennis L. Okholm (1999: Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 8th Ed.,ISBN 0-534-53393-0) write,

Distinguishing between reason and rhetoric—two concepts that are all too frequently confused—is important. Reason implies some sort of orderly thought process that can be traced, analyzed, and judged by intellectual standards. Reason claims to increase human knowledge or understanding, often apart from its practical applications. Reason may be valued for its own sake because it illuminates meaning, order, and perspective. Reason emphasizes the passion for clarity and truth; it stresses criticism and the search for sound arguments. Rhetoric, on the other hand, is a form of communication designed to persuade, to motivate people toward a predetermined action or opinion. Rhetoric is the skillful use of language in an effort to elicit a particular response. Rhetoric is a means; it takes the form of intellectual coercion or psychological persuasion. Rhetoric tends to be uncritical and dogmatic.

The distinction between reason and rhetoric raises some sticky semantic questions, but it is a similar distinction to that sometimes made between "education" and "propaganda." Education seeks to give persons the power to make decisions and the knowledge to make choices on their own. Propaganda is designed to produce a predictable opinion or response, whether or not responders understand what they do or why they do it. Over the years philosophy has been tilted toward the broader view—toward reason and education.

Logical reasoning is one of the most important areas of contemporary philosophical study. The traditional way of classifying logical arguments is to designate them either inductive or deductive. Different criteria are employed in evaluating each type, and we shall consider them separately.