Shane Mage wrote: > ... to *maintain two [valid] contradictory ideas in [one's] head at the > same time in order to resolve them dialectically* is the mark of the > greatest philosophers ...<
I believe that when discussing "doublethink," Orwell was making fun of the kind of "dialectical thinking" that was popular in the CP during the 1930s -- and pointing to what might become its logical extension. (This kind of thinking also showed up in Trotsky's IN DEFENSE OF MARXISM.) By the way, the valid, dialectical, kind of maintenance of "two contradictory ideas" simultaneously represents a strong ability to resist the unease arising from cognitive dissonance. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
