Comments on: Communitarian Aestheticism http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/ The Sweet Release of Reason Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:11:50 +0000 hourly 1 By: mk http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11925 mk Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:18:50 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11925 I think this is interesting, but I am also unsure why individualists feel such moral certainty in their position. It's great to argue "sometimes people's better judgement is distorted by the need to belong." Awesome, I agree. But isn't it also the case that "sometimes people's better judgement is distorted by the need to be an individual?" I guess you could argue that the impulse to belong is more distorting than the need to be different... Isn't it wisest to be <i>agnostic</i> on the moral goodness/badness of the community? I think this is interesting, but I am also unsure why individualists feel such moral certainty in their position.

It’s great to argue “sometimes people’s better judgement is distorted by the need to belong.” Awesome, I agree. But isn’t it also the case that “sometimes people’s better judgement is distorted by the need to be an individual?” I guess you could argue that the impulse to belong is more distorting than the need to be different…

Isn’t it wisest to be agnostic on the moral goodness/badness of the community?

]]> By: mk http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11930 mk Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:18:00 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11930 I think this is interesting, but I am also unsure why individualists feel such moral certainty in their position. It's great to argue "sometimes people's better judgement is distorted by the need to belong." Awesome, I agree. But isn't it also the case that "sometimes people's better judgement is distorted by the need to be an individual?" I guess you could argue that the impulse to belong is more distorting than the need to be different... Isn't it wisest to be <i>agnostic</i> on the moral goodness/badness of the community? I think this is interesting, but I am also unsure why individualists feel such moral certainty in their position.

It’s great to argue “sometimes people’s better judgement is distorted by the need to belong.” Awesome, I agree. But isn’t it also the case that “sometimes people’s better judgement is distorted by the need to be an individual?” I guess you could argue that the impulse to belong is more distorting than the need to be different…

Isn’t it wisest to be agnostic on the moral goodness/badness of the community?

]]> By: Eric Blair http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11924 Eric Blair Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:39:52 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11924 So? Snob. So? Snob.

]]> By: Eric Blair http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11934 Eric Blair Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:39:00 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11934 So? Snob. So? Snob.

]]> By: Dr X http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11923 Dr X Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:23:06 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11923 A "bad" displacement doesn't mean an evil one, It's a course or vulgar displacement -- one in which the symbol is barely different from what it symbolizes. Rather than reflect a complex and nuanced rendering, it's the product of a more primitive psychology that fails to see the obvious displacement. Have you ever seen an insecure guy who brags shamelessly and endlessly without a hint that others see his underlying insecurity? Bad displacements are a little like that -- they can induce a bit of a cringe if, as an observer, you conclude that the person whose art extends to hanging a fuzzy pair from his rear view mirror is oblivious to the symbolic elements of this sort of kitsch. Imagine a teenage boy at a stop light, revving his engine, flames painted on the side of his car, making a great deal of noise, with that fuzzy pair of dice dangling there in the center of it all. Though a daVinci piece might derive from the same instinctual sources, that boy is no daVinci. What he's got is a taste for crass art. A “bad” displacement doesn’t mean an evil one, It’s a course or vulgar displacement — one in which the symbol is barely different from what it symbolizes. Rather than reflect a complex and nuanced rendering, it’s the product of a more primitive psychology that fails to see the obvious displacement.

Have you ever seen an insecure guy who brags shamelessly and endlessly without a hint that others see his underlying insecurity? Bad displacements are a little like that — they can induce a bit of a cringe if, as an observer, you conclude that the person whose art extends to hanging a fuzzy pair from his rear view mirror is oblivious to the symbolic elements of this sort of kitsch.

Imagine a teenage boy at a stop light, revving his engine, flames painted on the side of his car, making a great deal of noise, with that fuzzy pair of dice dangling there in the center of it all. Though a daVinci piece might derive from the same instinctual sources, that boy is no daVinci. What he’s got is a taste for crass art.

]]> By: Dr X http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11929 Dr X Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:23:00 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11929 A "bad" displacement doesn't mean an evil one, It's a course or vulgar displacement -- one in which the symbol is barely different from what it symbolizes. Rather than reflect a complex and nuanced rendering, it's the product of a more primitive psychology that fails to see the obvious displacement. Have you ever seen an insecure guy who brags shamelessly and endlessly without a hint that others see his underlying insecurity? Bad displacements are a little like that -- they can induce a bit of a cringe if, as an observer, you conclude that the person whose art extends to hanging a fuzzy pair from his rear view mirror is oblivious to the symbolic elements of this sort of kitsch. Imagine a teenage boy at a stop light, revving his engine, flames painted on the side of his car, making a great deal of noise, with that fuzzy pair of dice dangling there in the center of it all. Though a daVinci piece might derive from the same instinctual sources, that boy is no daVinci. What he's got is a taste for crass art. A “bad” displacement doesn’t mean an evil one, It’s a course or vulgar displacement — one in which the symbol is barely different from what it symbolizes. Rather than reflect a complex and nuanced rendering, it’s the product of a more primitive psychology that fails to see the obvious displacement.

Have you ever seen an insecure guy who brags shamelessly and endlessly without a hint that others see his underlying insecurity? Bad displacements are a little like that — they can induce a bit of a cringe if, as an observer, you conclude that the person whose art extends to hanging a fuzzy pair from his rear view mirror is oblivious to the symbolic elements of this sort of kitsch.

Imagine a teenage boy at a stop light, revving his engine, flames painted on the side of his car, making a great deal of noise, with that fuzzy pair of dice dangling there in the center of it all. Though a daVinci piece might derive from the same instinctual sources, that boy is no daVinci. What he’s got is a taste for crass art.

]]> By: Eric Blair http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11922 Eric Blair Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:06:56 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11922 What's wrong with fuzzy dice? How in the world is that 'bad'? What’s wrong with fuzzy dice? How in the world is that ‘bad’?

]]> By: Eric Blair http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11928 Eric Blair Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:06:00 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11928 What's wrong with fuzzy dice? How in the world is that 'bad'? What’s wrong with fuzzy dice? How in the world is that ‘bad’?

]]> By: Dr X http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11921 Dr X Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:31:14 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11921 ""In every society, ordinary life is full of bad displacements and condensations" What the hell is that supposed to mean?" _______________________________________ You know, things like tricked out cars or the old fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror “”In every society, ordinary life is full of bad displacements and condensations”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
_______________________________________
You know, things like tricked out cars or the old fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror

]]> By: Dr X http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11927 Dr X Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:31:00 +0000 http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/02/06/communitarian-aestheticism/#comment-11927 ""In every society, ordinary life is full of bad displacements and condensations" What the hell is that supposed to mean?" _______________________________________ You know, things like tricked out cars or the old fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror “”In every society, ordinary life is full of bad displacements and condensations”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
_______________________________________
You know, things like tricked out cars or the old fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror

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