William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
"Reflex Action and Theism"
1890s, The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
Source: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1974), p. 30
William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
"Reflex Action and Theism"
1890s, The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.”
Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist
Arthur Ponsonby (1871–1946) British Liberal and later Labour politician and pacifist
Falsehood in Wartime (1928), Introduction
Richard Hofstadter (1916–1970) American historian
Source: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1974), pp. 32-33
William Ernest Hocking (1873–1966) American philosopher
Source: The Meaning of God in Human Experience (1912), Ch. XIV : The Need of an Absolute, p. 192.
Context: As in reply to the skeptic or agnostic, who asserts in despair that there is no absolute truth. The dialectician retorts: Then at least your own assertion must be absolutely true. There must be some absolute truth, for you cannot assert that there is none without self-contradiction. As in Descartes' case, the doubter is reminded of himself. There, in his own assertion, is a certainty from which he cannot escape.
This turn of thought which reminds the enquirer of himself, we shall call the reflexive turn. It reappears in all discoveries of the Absolute. It is clinching--but is likely to disappoint, even as Descartes' result disappoints. For the skeptic finds that he also was in search of objective truth: and that the absolute truth of his statement is irrelevant to his quest. Whence his skepticism toward objective truth remains unanswered.
Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author
Random Thoughts http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2004/02/25/random_thoughts/page/full, Feb 25, 2004 <br class="br">2000s
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) Classical philosophy specialist and father of neoconservativism
Seminar on Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil (1971–1972)
Richard Hofstadter (1916–1970) American historian
Source: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1974), p. 27