WAISTLINE: You can't critique an author conception of the African American experience, without knowledge of that experience which anyone that reads the article cannot but be shocked by its notable absence. Ralph, do you live in America?
ME: Cornel West definitely lives in America: FROM HIS WIKIPEDIA ENTRY: . Hoover Institute research fellow Peter Schweizer wrote in his book Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy that West lives in a mostly white neighborhood and earns over $300,000 per year as a professor. WAISTLINE: You can't critique an author conception of the African American experience, without knowledge of that experience which anyone that reads the article cannot but be shocked by its notable absence. ME: As Ralph has already pointed out, his "conception of the Afro-American experience" appears to be little more than grafting religion onto his otherwise all too ordinary (less than distinguished?) academe thinking. He even provides the empty "sound and fury" typical of your garden variety 'lefty radical': WIKIPEDIA ONCE MORE: West has made plain his opposition to the current war in Iraq. He asserts that the Bush Administration is peopled with "hawks" who "are not simply conservative elites and right-wing ideologues," but rather are "evangelical nihilists drunk with power and driven by grand delusions of American domination of the world." "We are experiencing the sad gangsterization of America," he adds, "an unbridled grasp at power, wealth and status." Viewing capitalism as the root cause of these alleged American lusts, West warns, "Free-market fundamentalism trivializes the concern for public interest. It puts fear and insecurity in the hearts of anxiety-ridden workers. It also makes money-driven, poll-obsessed elected officials deferential to corporate goals of profit often at the cost of the common good." --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Send Marxism-Thaxis mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, > visit > > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis > or, via email, send a message with subject or body > 'help' to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it > is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Marxism-Thaxis digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Cornel West & Marxism (1) > ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > 2. Cornel West & Marxism (2) (Ralph Dumain) > 3. Cornel West & Marxism (3) (Ralph Dumain) > 4. Cornel West & Marxism (4) (Ralph Dumain) > 5. Cornel West & Marxism (5) (Ralph Dumain) > 6. Cornel West & Marxism (6) (Ralph Dumain) > 7. Re: Cornel West & Marxism (6) > ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > 8. Re: spam: Re: Cornel West & Marxism (6) > (Ralph Dumain) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:20:11 GMT > From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Cornel West & Marxism > (1) > To: [email protected], > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message-ID: > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain > > Ralph wrote concerning West: > > "Furthermore, the language he falls back at crucial > junctures on smacks > of pragmatism, and his focusing on > anti-foundationalism occasionally > skews his analysis in the same direction." > > As I am sure that Ralph is well aware, Cornel West > has long been an > admirer of the young Sidney Hook's attempt to read > Marx in light of > Deweyian pragmatism, which in Hook's case meant > taking Lukacs's and > Korsch's readings of Marx and reinterpreting them in > light of Dewey. > In West's case, he reads Marx in light of Rorty, and > so manifests both > the strengths and weaknesses of his mentor. > > Jim F. > > -- Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As much as I hate to admit it, I'm finding Cornel > West's THE ETHICAL > DIMENSIONS OF MARXIST THOUGHT a worthwhile read. A > critique of this > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:34:53 -0400 > From: Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Marxism-Thaxis] Cornel West & Marxism (2) > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: [email protected] > Message-ID: > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; > format=flowed > > This is an admittedly fragmented way of approaching > a review, but I want to > begin by isolating passages (not including the > foreword) that disturb me. > > West is discussing Marx's 1844 mss. > > "And why is Feuerbach so important? Precisely > because he provides Marx with > a conception of philosophy (and ethics) which > permits Marx to liberate > himself from the vision of philosophy as the quest > for certainty, the > search for foundations." (49) > > West's overall explanation of Feuerbach's role is > good, and indeed Marx > does reject this traditional role for philosophy, > but this particular > characterization seems off to me. > > "We saw earlier that for Marx the completion of the > criticism of religion > signifies that the concern with the objectivity, > validity, and/or necessity > of its claims and beliefs has been transformed into > a concern with a > description and explanation of the function and role > of the beliefs--a > shift from philosophic to theoretic concerns. We > also saw Marx's concern to > broaden the _scope_ of this shift by focusing on > other alienated forms of > theoretical activity. Marx praises Feuerbach > precisely because Feuerbach > has shown that philosophy, like religion, is but an > alienated form of > theoretical activity. In other words, philosophic > claims must no longer be > scrutinized in terms of their objectivity, validity, > or necessity, but > rather described and explained in terms of their > function and role in > relation to groups, communities, societies, and > history." (49) > > This is all true; none of West's assertions are > wrong. However, what are > the unstated presuppositions and implications of the > statement "philosophic > claims must no longer be scrutinized in terms of > their objectivity, > validity, or necessity"? The reason they must no > longer be scrutinized in > these terms is because (a) they have already been > done so, (b) they are not > self-subsisting and do not provide a social theory, > which means also a > social theory that accounts for their own existence. > One must be careful > of this functionalist language. It's not wrong, but > there are implications > for truth claims that make come back to bite later. > > West is concerned about the role of species-being in > the 1844 mss: > > quote: > ------------------- > Despite Marx's philosophic to theoretic shift and > his condemnation of > philosophy as an autonomous discipline, he remains > partly captive of the > old vision of philosophy, of its quest for certainty > and search for > foundations. He does so because he tends to defend > his standard of > wholeness and the human by appealing to a "human > essence" or essential > human activity. Following Feuerbach, Marx conceives > of human beings as > possessing essential qualities or as engaged in > essential activity > separated from their so-called accidental qualities > or alienated activity. > This humanist view permits the essential qualities > or activity to serve as > metaphysical facts about people which then form the > basis for generating > timeless criteria, necessary grounds, or universal > foundations against > which to measure moral principles and action. > > Marx does not explicitly engage in the usual > philosophic activity of > specifying his criteria and justifying his ethical > beliefs by appealing to > the criteria. In this sense, he already has rejected > certain aspects of the > old vision of philosophy. But within the confines of > his theoretic concerns > and aims, he employs essentialist, i.e., > philosophic, language which > implicitly serves as a standard against which to > measure certain kinds of > qualities and activities. > (57) > ------------------- > endquote > > === message truncated === ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
