Independence Day can take on new meaning this year. While your neighbors are declaring their independence from the British crown, why not declare your independence from tacit assumptions and unexamined presuppositions?
Between BBQ chicken and fireworks, I encourage you to watch Astra Taylor’s documentary film, Examined Life (2008), which was finally released in February 2010. She “accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.” Read the synopsis and watch the trailer below.
Contrary to the adage that familiarity breeds contempt, I found that my familiarity with Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum only increased my affection for them as philosophers and public intellectuals. Central casting missed an opportunity to feature some of my other favorite contemporary thinkers, including Camille Paglia, Michael Sandel, and Leon Kass.
The salient line in the film is spoken by the wonderfully idiosyncratic Cornel West. In one sentence he offers a crystalline vision for the tasks of philosophy:
Philosophy is a critical disposition of wrestling with desire in the face of death, wrestling with dialogue in the face of dogmatism, and wrestling with democracy in the face of domination.
Cross posted at Mere Orthodoxy
June 29th, 2010 | 8:51 am | #1
You’ve got to be kidding!
You found that becoming more familiar with Cornel West … “only increased my affection” for him “as a philosopher and public intellectual.” Really?” Cornel West? THE Cornell West – The highly paid campus speaker and radical leftist and professor at Princeton? That Cornell West?
Your affection has increased for the popular Marxist intellectual who describes himself as a “prophet?” That Cornell West?
Your affection has increased for someone who is friends with Louis Farrakhan and agrees with Mr. Farrakan’s own brand of anti-semeticism and race baiting tactics? That Cornell West?
Your affection has increased for a man who is the political advisor to Al Sharpton? That Cornell West?
Your affection has increased for someone who views America as a nation thoroughly infested with white racism?
Oh. That Cornell West! The “idiosyncratic Cornel West” to use your definition.
Time to go back & re-examine the examined life!
June 29th, 2010 | 11:35 am | #2
Cornell West is brilliant. You may disagree with him, but his stories, his analysis is dead on in many ways.
June 29th, 2010 | 11:52 am | #3
I think that the Panthers, even though they would continue to influence me in high school and college, suffered from the absence of a spiritual base. The more I read, the more I realized that black revolutionary nationalism didn’t work for me. No nationalism did. My understanding of Jesus Christ went like this: Everything comes beneath the cross – nationalism, tribalism, patriotism, networks, even kinships. The cross is that critical juncture where catastrophe defines our condition and offers salvation, not in the name of a specific ideology or theology, but in the simple name of love. p.50, Brother West, Living and Loving Out Loud
June 29th, 2010 | 1:28 pm | #4
Christopher Benson: “I found that my familiarity with Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum only increased my affection for them as philosophers and public intellectuals.”
Steve: “You’ve got to be kidding!
THE Cornell West – The highly paid campus speaker and radical leftist and professor at Princeton? That Cornell West?
Your affection has increased for someone who is friends with Louis Farrakhan and agrees with Mr. Farrakan’s own brand of anti-semiticism and race baiting tactics? That Cornell West?”
Although Steve is surprised by your affection for Cornel West, I’m not too surprised.
Nor was I surprised when I watched the video trailer that they listed Peter Singer as well.
Christopher Benson, if Cornel West is who you affectionately look up to as a philosopher and public intellectual, then ….
June 29th, 2010 | 2:39 pm | #5
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Calvinism AND racism are true? What if God only elected black people to Heaven? I think we’d all have to laugh at that (albeit I’d be in Hell when I found out).
June 29th, 2010 | 4:35 pm | #6
The comments from Steve (your last name would help) and Truth Unites… and Divides (your real name would help) reveal an irksome pattern among some commentators at Evangel: “at varying degrees along a spectrum that runs from mildly allergic to wildly apoplectic,” they are inclined to see liberals (in the classical and contemporary senses) as enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, “frequently on the short list of the most dangerous anti-Christian currents of thoughts at the beginning of the new millennium” (quoted material is from Merold Westphal). Rather than indulge these temper tantrums and smear campaigns, I can only urge these people to love their neighbor or, at the very least, love their enemy, which will be even more difficult. Part of loving your neighbor means knowing your neighbor. In this case it would entail reading their work patiently and carefully. The Cornel West Reader is an excellent place to start. Does an affection for Cornel West or Martha Nussbaum mean that I agree with everything they say? Of course not. But it does mean I find them worthy of my attention because they (often) deliver principled and reasonable arguments.
I thank David Carlson (a commentator who dares to use his first and last name) for offering a quotation from West’s writing, which beautifully expresses his tragicomic sensibility.
June 29th, 2010 | 4:43 pm | #7
Mr. Carlson,
Cornell West is “brillant in his stories & his analysis” in much the same way that Joseph Stalin was “brillant” in his policies that lead to the murder of roughly 26-30 million people. If that’s your idea of “brillant” then you can have all the brillance of that variety you got coming.
June 29th, 2010 | 4:53 pm | #8
Steve: “Mr. Carlson,
Cornell West is “brillant in his stories & his analysis” in much the same way that Joseph Stalin was “brillant” in his policies that lead to the murder of roughly 26-30 million people. If that’s your idea of “brillant” then you can have all the brillance of that variety you got coming.”
Hi Steve,
Wouldn’t it be interesting to come up with a list of “brilliant” people who are liberal atheists or liberal Protestants or liberal Catholics or liberal Orthodox and who in their liberal “brilliance” ultimately bore destructive fruit, just like in your example of the “brilliant” Joseph Stalin?
June 29th, 2010 | 4:54 pm | #9
Mr. Benson,
My last name is of no consequence to you (and that is as it should be.). What is of consequence is your seeming affinity for the policies & beliefs of an individual who supports and defends the very worldview that in most respects has lead to killing approximately 94-100 million people in the past 100 years. If that is what you find attractive, more power to you.
June 29th, 2010 | 5:02 pm | #10
Steve: “What is of consequence is your seeming affinity for the policies & beliefs of an individual who supports and defends the very worldview that in most respects has lead to killing approximately 94-100 million people in the past 100 years.”
As I said before, Christopher Benson’s stated affection for Cornel West does not surprise me.
But I do appreciate him for being transparent about his increasing affection for Cornel West.
June 29th, 2010 | 5:15 pm | #11
Truth Unites…and Divides: I wrote: “Does an affection for Cornel West or Martha Nussbaum mean that I agree with everything they say? Of course not. But it does mean I find them worthy of my attention because they (often) deliver principled and reasonable arguments.”
Steve: A blogger puts himself/herself out there in the public domain. His/her first and last name are behind what they write. There is no hiding. Shouldn’t the commentator do the same? Based on my experience, dialogue improves when everyone knows who they are addressing.
Not surprisingly, your smear campaign persists with no evidence of a sustained engagement with the writings of Cornel West. It’s not clear to me that you’re even acquainted with Mr. West’s worldview. Claiming that the worldview “in most respects has lead [sic] to killing approximately 94-100 million people in the past 100 years” is a logical fallacy known as argumentum ad consequentiam (“appeal to consequences”). See the Wikipedia definition below.
Appeal to consequences is an argument that concludes a premise (typically a belief) to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences. This is based on an appeal to emotion and is a form of logical fallacy, since the desirability of a consequence does not address the truth value of the premise. Moreover, in categorizing consequences as either desirable or undesirable, such arguments inherently contain subjective points of view.
In logic, appeal to consequences refers only to arguments which assert a premise’s truth value (true or false) based on the consequences; appeal to consequences does not refer to arguments that address a premise’s desirability (good or bad, or right or wrong) instead of its truth value. Therefore, an argument based on appeal to consequences is valid in ethics, and in fact such arguments are the cornerstones of many moral theories, particularly related to consequentialism.
Negative form:
If P, then Q will occur.
Q is undesirable.
Therefore, P is false.
June 29th, 2010 | 5:28 pm | #12
Truth Unites… and Divides and Steve: It occurs to me that your comments are also a red herring or diversion of digression. The purpose of my blog post is to acquaint Evangel readers with a documentary film that I enjoyed. It’s stimulating to watch flesh-and-blood philosophers talk on film. I’d be interested in hearing your feedback if you watch the film.
June 29th, 2010 | 5:54 pm | #13
Christopher Benson, you wrote:
“Contrary to the adage that familiarity breeds contempt, I found that my familiarity with Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum only increased my affection for them as philosophers and public intellectuals.“
Steve and I were just commenting on your comment. That’s not a red herring or a diversion of digression. If you say that it is, it’s only because you had originated it.
June 29th, 2010 | 6:07 pm | #14
Truth Unites and Divides: The main point of my blog post is not to enter a discussion about whether Cornel West is a “good guy” or “bad guy,” as if we inhabit a Manichean universe, but to acquaint Evangel readers with a documentary film that might interest them. I sense that it wouldn’t interest you. So be it.
June 29th, 2010 | 6:35 pm | #15
“The purpose of my blog post is to acquaint Evangel readers with a documentary film that I enjoyed. It’s stimulating to watch flesh-and-blood philosophers talk on film.”
Interest & stimulation is one thing Mr. Benson, endorsement is quite another. And endorsement is exactly what you do here. Besides, I’ve been there. Done that. And I stand by my comments. Your “enjoyment” tells us all we need to know about what sort of endorsement you give Cornel West and his ilk. By “enjoying” flesh and blood philosophers & intellectuals such as Mr. West, you become what Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (better known as Vladimir Lenin) called a useful idiot. And no amount of sheep skins hanging on your wall can change any of that.
June 29th, 2010 | 6:45 pm | #16
STEVE: You’re good at deploying logical fallacies. On my count so far, there are three: appeal to consequences, red herring, and now ad hominem. I’m not adverse to trafficking in divergent thought. Clearly, you’re not the kind of person who would enjoy this documentary film. So be it.
June 29th, 2010 | 6:53 pm | #17
Christopher Benson,
If you look back at my comments above, you’ll notice that I did not say anything about Cornel West being a “good guy” or a “bad guy”; I just said that I wasn’t overly surprised by your affection for him. And that I also appreciate you being open about your growing affection for him.
And I never claimed that your increasing affection for Cornel West was the main point of your blog post.
June 29th, 2010 | 7:00 pm | #18
“Clearly, you’re not the kind of person who would enjoy this documentary film. So be it.”
That’s not going to satisfy our Steve.
And speaking of ad hominems: Steve, swapping out a bit of your content but preserving completely intact your form, you might feel more comfortable in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I’d recommend you to Ahmadinejad as official censor of the blogosphere; I’m sure he’d assign to you some thugs to haul in all those “divergently thinking” Mr. Bensons for more prolonged interrogations.
June 29th, 2010 | 7:24 pm | #19
Truth Unites…and Divides: I can infer that you regard Cornel West as a “bad guy,” although I doubt you’ve ever patiently and carefully engaged his writings. My “growing affection for him”? There’s nothing “growing” about it. I’ve interfaced with West’s writings for years.
June 29th, 2010 | 10:38 pm | #20
Christopher:
Among the truly reformed, the writings and ideas of those not on the reservation have no value, do not need to be read, and can be denigrated based solely on the background of the author. In fact, they will take pride in their ignorance and refusal to read them.
June 29th, 2010 | 11:19 pm | #21
Steve,
Thanks for making me use my last initial to differentiate myself from your inane comments. Incidentally, I happen to have met Cornell West quite randomly, and I found that he is a kind and polite gentleman who bears little resemblance to the caricature provided by your malicious and slanderous comments. There is some debate as to his standing as a scholar and a philosopher, but I’m dismayed at your attacks on him as a person.
June 30th, 2010 | 7:00 am | #22
Mr. Carlson and Mr. W: I’m glad to see there are some Evangel readers who are able to traffic in divergent thought and treat the other charitably.
Avital Ronell is featured in the film. She was previously unknown to me. Her words below are relevant after yesterday’s character assassination of Cornel West:
June 30th, 2010 | 11:08 am | #23
Indeed. Let’s do “traffic in divergent thought” and thoughtfully engage the substance and content of this recent article:
Hurricane West: Cornel West and American Radicalism, This academic impostor symbolizes the decline in America’s intellectual and moral standards.
June 30th, 2010 | 11:09 am | #24
Hurricane West: Cornel West and American Radicalism, This academic impostor symbolizes the decline in America’s intellectual and moral standards.
June 30th, 2010 | 2:38 pm | #25
I find several things disturbing about the truly reformed and their world view
1. Criticizing without reading. I can understand disagreeing, even voraciously criticizing West, Manning or McGrath or any number of out of the fold (non tr) writers, but to do so without even reading the material strikes me as the epitome of ignorance. I am not tr, but I have read some of Pastor MacArthur’s books.
2. A complete, often seeming willful, lack of understanding of the black experience in the US and how it has impacted the culture, the church and thought.
June 30th, 2010 | 2:43 pm | #26
Mr. Carlson: Like you, I’m disturbed by Christians who instigate smear campaigns when Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:43-45). I guess that’s why it’s called a “hard teaching.”
Participants in smear campaigns seldom demonstrate a patient, careful, and sustained engagement with the primary sources. Notice how Truth Unites…and Divides (Mr. Tuad, as I will now him dub him) asks us to read an article by David Horowitz on Cornel West rather than read an article from Cornel West. Avital Ronell diagnoses the psychology behind smear campaigns:
Bottom line: let us learn to disagree without being disagreeable.
June 30th, 2010 | 7:11 pm | #27
Let’s examine what Cornel West has expressed:
“If you view America from the Jamestown Colony, America is a corporation before it’s a country. If it’s a corporation before it is a country, then white supremacy is married to capitalism. Therefore, white supremacy is something that is so deeply grounded in white greed, hatred, and fear that it constitutes the very foundation for . . . [a] democracy called the U.S.A.”
And
“American imperial expansion fascinates me. We’re talking about the invasion of Iraq. It’s the first time America invaded a country. Whoa! [Laughter] My God, really. Grenada, Panama, we can go right down the line. [Applause] But no, 1783, George Washington himself says that we do not want to involve ourselves with the affairs of Europe, but we do expect expansion of population and territory. You say, Mr. Washington, there’s some people on that land you have in mind [laughter] — human beings whose lives are just as valuable as yours, on intimate terms with death, with imperial expansion. The same would be true with Latino brothers and sisters, with moving borders: Mexico one day, U.S. the next. It’s not mediated with argument. It’s imperial expansion. Forms of death. Struggle for black freedom. Civic death. Jim Crow. Jane Crow. Lynching. I’d call it American terrorism.”
Christopher Benson: “I found that my familiarity with Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum only increased my affection for them as philosophers and public intellectuals.”
June 30th, 2010 | 8:10 pm | #28
Mr. Tuad: Two quotations pulled out of nowhere is not what I regard as a patient, careful, and sustained engagement with the primary sources. Nor do these quotations encapsulate the heterogeneous corpus of Cornel West’s popular and scholarly writing.
Please give specific citations for the quotations in comment #27. In addition, what article-length or book-length material have you read from Professor West? Have you received or used his work? See C. S. Lewis’ An Experiment in Criticism for an explanation of these interpretive practices.
I’m not going to pursue this any further because the main point of the blog post was to bring awareness to a documentary film that features contemporary philosophers. Perhaps a future post will engage Professor West’s thought.
June 30th, 2010 | 9:21 pm | #29
Christopher Benson: “Perhaps a future post will engage Professor West’s thought.”
That would be fitting. After all, you wrote:
“I found that my familiarity with Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum only increased my affection for them as philosophers and public intellectuals.”
June 30th, 2010 | 10:13 pm | #30
Mr. Tuad: What are the specific citations for the quotations in comment #27? What article-length or book-length material have you read from Professor West? Have you received or used his work? See C. S. Lewis’ An Experiment in Criticism for an explanation of these interpretive practices.
June 30th, 2010 | 10:28 pm | #31
Christopher Benson,
First, interact and engage with what Cornel West has expressed:
“If you view America from the Jamestown Colony, America is a corporation before it’s a country. If it’s a corporation before it is a country, then white supremacy is married to capitalism. Therefore, white supremacy is something that is so deeply grounded in white greed, hatred, and fear that it constitutes the very foundation for . . . [a] democracy called the U.S.A.”
And
“American imperial expansion fascinates me. We’re talking about the invasion of Iraq. It’s the first time America invaded a country. Whoa! [Laughter] My God, really. Grenada, Panama, we can go right down the line. [Applause] But no, 1783, George Washington himself says that we do not want to involve ourselves with the affairs of Europe, but we do expect expansion of population and territory. You say, Mr. Washington, there’s some people on that land you have in mind [laughter] — human beings whose lives are just as valuable as yours, on intimate terms with death, with imperial expansion. The same would be true with Latino brothers and sisters, with moving borders: Mexico one day, U.S. the next. It’s not mediated with argument. It’s imperial expansion. Forms of death. Struggle for black freedom. Civic death. Jim Crow. Jane Crow. Lynching. I’d call it American terrorism.”
June 30th, 2010 | 10:38 pm | #32
TUAD,
What is wrong with those two quotations? I’m not sure that they’re any more anti-American than are certain passages from Stanley Hauerwas.
In particular, the first quotation does a good job of capturing the essence of what the Jamestown Colony was: a corporate venture that depended on the labor of enslaved black people, as well as the foundation of the American colonies.
June 30th, 2010 | 11:26 pm | #33
Mr. Tuad: What are the specific citations for the quotations in comment #27? What article-length or book-length material have you read from Professor West? If you fail to answer these straightforward questions, you only reinforce the observations made by Mr. David Carlson in #20 and #25 and by Mr. Steve W. in comment #21. Let me state it again: the main purpose of my blog post is to bring attention to a documentary film that features contemporary philosophers, not to engage the writings of Professor West. Moreover, I don’t engage quotations without context and citations.
July 1st, 2010 | 7:35 am | #34
OK, I get it now, TUAD. This is an anti-communist witch hunt of some sort, as you show no sign of being interested in dialogue regarding the quotations with which you keep spamming these comments. You’re trying to entrap Christopher Benson in who-knows-what for who-knows-what-reason. I sincerely pity you if you find such an activity worthwhile.
July 1st, 2010 | 3:05 pm | #35
The only thing I know about Cornel West is that he may have the same barber as Don King.
July 1st, 2010 | 3:20 pm | #36
Mr. Williams: That observation is hilariously true.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact