|
The "Flat Earth" |
| Did you hold the "commonplace"
notion that people in the Middle Ages believed the earth was flat? |
|
Russell, J. B. (1997). Inventing
the flat earth. Westport Connecticut: Praeger.
|
| Why is it that we trust the "authorities"
(past and present)? |
Russell, J. B. (1997). Inventing
the flat earth. Westport Connecticut: Praeger.
|
| What other commonplace notions might you
be wrongly accepting? |
Ellul, J. (1968).
A critique of the new commonplaces. New York: Alfred K. Knopf. |
| Do you suspect a malevolent academic
agenda? |
Broad, W. & Wade, N. (1985).
Betrayers of the truth. Oxford University Press. |
| Do you guard against the influence of an
ideology? |
Sowell, T. (1999). "The tyranny of
visions" in The quest for cosmic justice. New York: The Free
Press. |
| |
|
| Why is it that large chunks
of the intelligentsia are so easily drawn into ideological visions
that have fatal flaws? For example, Russia from 1917 to the 50's. The
Kellog-Briand treaty and the move to disarmament in the 20's. Germany in
the 30's. And so on... Why is it that our
prominent thinkers like Shaw, Russell, Dewey, and Heidegger are drawn in by these visions? |
| |
|
