Saturday, May 23, 2009

Epictetus for the day...

Every now and then its good to pause and read a Greek!

From The Art of Living...

When we name things correctly, we comprehend them correctly, without adding information or judgments that aren't there.  Does someone bathe quickly?  Don't say he bathes poorly, but quickly.  Name the situation as it is, don't filter it through your judgments.

Does someone drink a lot of wine?  Don't say she is a drunk but that she drinks a lot.  Unless you possess a comprehensive understanding of her life, how do you know if she is a drunk?

Do not risk being beguiled by appearances and constructing theories and interpretations based on distortions through misnaming.  Give your assent only to what is actually true.

Careful language... my interest in philosophy of language reinforces the importance of this, the political theorist in me knows how much confusions within language create bad policy and often keeps us from having effective debate.  This is something i'm always working to improve on...

Posted via web from jimnichols's posterous

1 comment:

  1. I would prefer "Under the name of 'dihairesis'", because even the worst politician is a man who uses reason in a sense that he believes is good.
    I hope men will slowly learn that the opposition is not between 'reason' and 'non-reson' but between 'dihairesis' and 'counterdiharesis' that is between two different ways of using one and the same reason in order to be a free man or a slave human being.

    ReplyDelete