Critique of Pure Reason

[Alexander]

And this is what you get when you invest too heavily in transcendental idealism in Rostov-on-Don. A rubber bullet to the head.

Funny: sometimes I despair of Russia, but then again, where else can two strangers meet on a shopping trip and get into a debate over Enlightenment philosophy? But on the other hand, where else but Russia would the debate turn violent....

But really I post this link because of a personal connection. I find, oddly enough, three shades past, memories of debating with the man. 1750, it was, in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Apparently we were considering him as a recruit, but his idealist philosophy was a sticking point -- many of his other beliefs were in line with our way of thinking. My predecessor was chosen to argue with the then-youthful scholar to see if Kant could be swayed at all. He lost, of course, but at least there was no blunt trauma to the head.

[Phil]

It is funny. And sad. And many other things. But there is a thing to consider that you might be too close to see--how much more sophisticated, how much better educated, is the average Russian than, say the average American? Such an event is impossible here, because the few people who have even heard of Kant would be so taken by someone else having heard of him, that it would necessarily put a cap on the acrimony.

I am not in favor of people killing each other over a dispute about the Enlightenment; but I think it says something that is worth thinking about.

And it really is pretty funny, poor bastard.

[Alexander]

Hm. You may be right.

I suppose for those who embrace it, pretty much any European education is better than the equivalent American one. But perverse as I've heard some American curricula can be -- Kansas science, Alabama history, and so on -- at least in the US you don't grow up believing Stalin was a good guy, or skipping over Molotov-Ribbentrop....