[Hank Kerchief]

Actual thinking is damned hard work, and accepting uncertainty and developing a moral or philosophical perspective in the face of the uncertainty that has existed since the Enlightenment is probably beyond most people's abilities.

Yes, everything of value, life itself is, "damned hard work," and reality is ruthlessly demanding and unforgiving. Since freedom means facing the facts of reality without evasion and taking complete responsibility for one's own choices and actions, most people despise it. Seeking the truth is not only too hard, it is terrifying to most. I do not believe they cannot do it; I believe they will not.

Hank

[CatoRenasci]

You, then, are an optomist. Although for many years I would have agreed with you that most simply lack the will to think seriously, as I have gotten older I have become convinced that fear of both the uncertainty and the work are only a small part of the problem. Most people are simply do not have the required horsepower to study philosophy. In this, I fear I part company with the Enlightenment's celebration of reason and the underlying idea that human nature may be improved. [Note that the idea of progress, much maligned, is most often fundamentally misinterpreted as suggesting the inevitabilty of progress and perfectability of human nature, rather than mere holding (contrary to many cyclical or eschatalogical views) that progess is not possible and that human nature is fixed].

BTW, I looked at Ms. Hesieh's website and the link to a book list that ostensibly was a good overview of what one needs to know. If a graduate student of mine had suggested a list with so many unscholarly works and so much second and third rate stuff, I'd have seriously reconsidered their status. But, then I was an intellectual historian in my callow youth and expected people to read 2-3 serious secondary works and a fair chunk (say 2-3 hours) of some meaty philosophy every day. We did not think this at all excessive, unless the works were not available in English translation (e.g. Ernst Cassierer's Kant's Leben und Lehre, now available in a very nice translation as Kant's Life and Thought).

Cheers!