This discussion lies atop something much deeper, much more profound. TCW, at heart, is a philosopher / thinker. Persuasion is his raison d'etre and a commitment to precision and truth is treated as the sine qua non of critical engagement with the world.
Rufo is action-oriented,
Rufo is action-oriented,
https://twitter.com/thomaschattwill/status/1458171468664254480
who lives not in the world of ideas but of cultural change and action. This is the realm of politics.
This schism goes all the way back to the trial of Socrates, and how his execution at the hands of the Athenian state brought Plato to doubt the validity and indeed,
This schism goes all the way back to the trial of Socrates, and how his execution at the hands of the Athenian state brought Plato to doubt the validity and indeed,
the usefulness of persuasion.
Politics requires a certain sense of realism where the rubber of ideas have to hit the road. Time is also a factor. What good is dialectics where one is committed to truth and precision when the hemlock has been brewed?
They are optimizing for
Politics requires a certain sense of realism where the rubber of ideas have to hit the road. Time is also a factor. What good is dialectics where one is committed to truth and precision when the hemlock has been brewed?
They are optimizing for
very different things, and so adopt varied approaches.
I'm personally not fond of the term "woke" from an aesthetics standpoint. It sounds juvenile.
But having tracked this phenomenon since 2014, I am inclined to believe that debating this issue as a philosopher is a
I'm personally not fond of the term "woke" from an aesthetics standpoint. It sounds juvenile.
But having tracked this phenomenon since 2014, I am inclined to believe that debating this issue as a philosopher is a
fool's errand. Let's not fall into the academic trap and pretend that this is an abstract debate, removed from cultural and human endeavors.
How can you improve upon a monosyllabic word that has widespread recognition? TCW, understandably, wants to disentangle himself from
How can you improve upon a monosyllabic word that has widespread recognition? TCW, understandably, wants to disentangle himself from
less sophisticated critics, but I don't think we should pretend the word itself is a problem.
Besides, it has now accrued a pejorative connotation precisely because of the extreme political posturing that actively harms those it purports to help, all under the pretentious guise
Besides, it has now accrued a pejorative connotation precisely because of the extreme political posturing that actively harms those it purports to help, all under the pretentious guise
of virtue.
Also notice the moment in which the "woke" are deigning to abandon it. It was when AOC noticed Uncle Carville and all the unenlightened Fox-watching Boomers were using it, albeit sometimes indiscriminately. So now that it has trickled down to the masses and the usage
Also notice the moment in which the "woke" are deigning to abandon it. It was when AOC noticed Uncle Carville and all the unenlightened Fox-watching Boomers were using it, albeit sometimes indiscriminately. So now that it has trickled down to the masses and the usage
becomes widespread through the vernacular, the coiners of the term, (or "The Elect), then try to abandon the epithet they came up with in the first place and try to re-brand themselves.
It's hipster elitism, and they are the ones pushing the semantic treadmill. Recall that
It's hipster elitism, and they are the ones pushing the semantic treadmill. Recall that
it started with "social justice warriors," and then the "regressive left" (clunky - but I liked this one).
Everything eventually turns into a pejorative because the word itself isn’t the problem. The demand for specificity here seems to help the activist class, especially
Everything eventually turns into a pejorative because the word itself isn’t the problem. The demand for specificity here seems to help the activist class, especially
considering how the consequences of their ideology has been playing out, tainting the very word that they now want to relinquish.
Just as "woke" is a luxury belief, so is the debating the term of what to use in its place.
Tl;dr: WOKE IS FINE
Just as "woke" is a luxury belief, so is the debating the term of what to use in its place.
Tl;dr: WOKE IS FINE
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