And I have a fairly confident feeling at this point in my spiritual development that God tends to judge man precisely in terms of the kinds of judgments that man renders against his neighbor.... Of course, you do not believe in God. And so this entire conversation is not merely superfluous, but utterly devoid of meaning to you.... (If I had to guess....)
You are guessing betty, - obviously. Just as you are also desperate to find some way to discredit my observation that V. is an intellectual sham. #55 - tpaine.
Now, when I see you make this comment to our general_re:
"Forgive me, general_re, but IMHO, this is a thoroughly "smart-*ss" take on your part."
-- I realise I should have made the same type of retort to you.
Perhaps you should look in the mirror to find the sanctimonious smart ass on this thread.
- "Thanks for writing" -
Perhaps I should, tpaine. Since you recommend the exercise as potentially profitable to me.
I get the feeling from you sometimes, tpaine, that you really would like to understand what Voegelin is saying, and it's frustrating to you that you do not. FWIW, I don't believe this has anything to do with lack of intelligence on your part. I think it has to do with the main point of this essay -- that when we do not share a common universe of discourse, based on a common experiential basis, it is difficult (at best), and may be impossible, for people to understand each other.
One could say, "well, that's just the way it is. Get over it." I could easily get over it, except for the fact that IMHO there is a widening cultural divide, in our nation and in the world, between factions that we could designate as those who are on the side of life and basic human dignity, and those who are on the side of "progress" and human utility. WRT the latter, it's as if man were trying to escape from the human condition itself. The former camp (which includes the great philosophers of open existence, classical and modern) is trying to convey to the latter that such a thing is impossible.
In short, the former camp is vitally concerned with issues relating to the "sphere of the person"; the latter camp often appears to regard the "sphere of the person" as a fiction, quite often an "inconvenient" one. Thus, the need to "re-educate" the human individual to the requirements of the new order that the truly "progressive" thinker wishes to see come about. Which seems to involve the acceptance of nihilism as the "reasonable" doctrine to live by.
Obviously, the two sides do not share a common universe of discourse. They are thus virtually incapable of communication, let alone debate.
I was thinking last night that I really should try to write a short outline of what Voegelin is saying in this essay, since you stated you'd like to have a brief, succinct summary. But I imagine if you truly believe I am a "sanctimonious smart ass," then my effort (it would need to be considerable to pull off such a thing) would probably be doomed from the outset as yet another "exercise in futility."
Peace.