PS. in regard to Rousseau, much credit should be given him for writing 'Confessions' : in this regard, he totally lived up to the substance of his quote and this essay, by being brutally honest to the reader about his mistakes and flaws.
Surely, he was a good sort! I totally recommend the book to anyone.
I think that it boils down to this: am I being polite to be a sycophant, out of fear? (even that would not necessarily NOT be a good strategy, since fear is not always unwarranted and courage can be used to do foolish and crazy things).
Or am I being polite without fear? Here in the UK, as an Italian, I am constantly impressed by the so- called 'English phlegm'. The prime minister Keir Starmer is a very good example of that, I think. But really I witness it all the time even by ordinary people. Of course, ignoramuses are as present here as everywhere, and in fact they are the opposite: rude, direct, etc
Perhaps, we have so much trouble making distinctions (well, I have!) because words seem so limiting compared to human complexity. And, my very limited English.
Very interesting post. Thank you. And it opens a Pandora's Box.
''Sincerity is an openness of heart. You must think just as you speak, feel just as you act.''.
First, I do not consider Rousseau a philosopher. An original thinker? Yes. But no philosopher. I am actually reading the Oxford edition of 'Confessions', and it seems to me that virtually NOTHING this man did, was anything remotely rational. He was very impulsive and irrational, as many of his anecdotes demonstrate. He's always talking about 'the heart' etc.
How can such a one be a philosopher? The quote above reflects that. The problem is, why one should do this instead of that? Personally, I believe what Rousseau said, can only be done with people you care, perhaps not even with them.
Actually, Rousseau could be a first rank hypocrite, for example, he tried to pass himself up as a 'music-master', only to be despised and derided not only by true masters like Jean Philippe Rameau, but also by children:
'....the little girl was a snake: after she understood that I could not read a note of the written music she provided, she taunted me by reading and singing aloud ,smirking at me, and saying 'Eh? Music-master?'.
But yes, it is true that being polite is being a hypocrite (or rather, fake, since one can be polite without necessarily contradicting himself, which is what hypocrisy is).
'' Politeness is like fake coin: it would be foolish to be stingy with it, and should be distributed freely everywhere. '' - Arthur Schopenhauer
Oh how I wish the world functioned with such sincerity. I am so sick and tired of this sycophantic nonsensical way of living that we have all accepted. When will we reclaim our personhood?
My takeaway is that ultimately we should strive to find a method to maintain societal harmony without compromising the internal harmony of our actions with our values.
Thought provoking and challenging societal norms and co strains are designed for etiquette rather than thought. Having said that, disagreement with respect and kindness, that listens and tries to understand, yet offer comments is never out of place.
I see subtext: "We agree to surrender certain freedoms, certain raw expressions, for the sake of societal harmony". Nobody surrenders because they disagree *and* choose to stay silent. That's not surrender.
PS. in regard to Rousseau, much credit should be given him for writing 'Confessions' : in this regard, he totally lived up to the substance of his quote and this essay, by being brutally honest to the reader about his mistakes and flaws.
Surely, he was a good sort! I totally recommend the book to anyone.
I think that it boils down to this: am I being polite to be a sycophant, out of fear? (even that would not necessarily NOT be a good strategy, since fear is not always unwarranted and courage can be used to do foolish and crazy things).
Or am I being polite without fear? Here in the UK, as an Italian, I am constantly impressed by the so- called 'English phlegm'. The prime minister Keir Starmer is a very good example of that, I think. But really I witness it all the time even by ordinary people. Of course, ignoramuses are as present here as everywhere, and in fact they are the opposite: rude, direct, etc
Perhaps, we have so much trouble making distinctions (well, I have!) because words seem so limiting compared to human complexity. And, my very limited English.
Very interesting post. Thank you. And it opens a Pandora's Box.
''Sincerity is an openness of heart. You must think just as you speak, feel just as you act.''.
First, I do not consider Rousseau a philosopher. An original thinker? Yes. But no philosopher. I am actually reading the Oxford edition of 'Confessions', and it seems to me that virtually NOTHING this man did, was anything remotely rational. He was very impulsive and irrational, as many of his anecdotes demonstrate. He's always talking about 'the heart' etc.
How can such a one be a philosopher? The quote above reflects that. The problem is, why one should do this instead of that? Personally, I believe what Rousseau said, can only be done with people you care, perhaps not even with them.
Actually, Rousseau could be a first rank hypocrite, for example, he tried to pass himself up as a 'music-master', only to be despised and derided not only by true masters like Jean Philippe Rameau, but also by children:
'....the little girl was a snake: after she understood that I could not read a note of the written music she provided, she taunted me by reading and singing aloud ,smirking at me, and saying 'Eh? Music-master?'.
But yes, it is true that being polite is being a hypocrite (or rather, fake, since one can be polite without necessarily contradicting himself, which is what hypocrisy is).
'' Politeness is like fake coin: it would be foolish to be stingy with it, and should be distributed freely everywhere. '' - Arthur Schopenhauer
So are you talking here or lightly treading around the sycophantic behaviours infecting elected representatives around the president of the USA?
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Oh how I wish the world functioned with such sincerity. I am so sick and tired of this sycophantic nonsensical way of living that we have all accepted. When will we reclaim our personhood?
My takeaway is that ultimately we should strive to find a method to maintain societal harmony without compromising the internal harmony of our actions with our values.
I just noticed that being is misspelled.
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Thought provoking and challenging societal norms and co strains are designed for etiquette rather than thought. Having said that, disagreement with respect and kindness, that listens and tries to understand, yet offer comments is never out of place.
I see subtext: "We agree to surrender certain freedoms, certain raw expressions, for the sake of societal harmony". Nobody surrenders because they disagree *and* choose to stay silent. That's not surrender.