„And there is a real question as to whether "bigness" in a body politic is not an evil in itself, quite aside from the policies pursued in its name.“
George F. Kennan
1904 - 2005Citations similaires
„Evil does not question itself. Only Hope questions itself.“
— Craig Ferguson Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice artist 1962
„The fundamental question of politics has always been whether there should be politics.“
— Karl Hess American journalist 1923 - 1994
Context: The most interesting political questions throughout history have been whether or not humans will be ruled or free, whether they will be responsible for their actions as individuals or left irresponsible as members of society, and whether they can live in peace by volitional agreements alone.The fundamental question of politics has always been whether there should be politics.
„The popular political answers of the day, I saw, had hardened into dogma, making anyone who questioned them a heretic. Having turned my back on religion, I saw no reason to accept mere political opinions as gospel truth. Years later these same dogmatists would walk away from the wreckage of their failed policies, like children tossing aside a broken toy. But the victims they left behind were real people- my people.“
— Clarence Thomas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1948
Page 105
„But its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something, do you support our policy?“
— Noam Chomsky american linguist, philosopher and activist 1928
Context: The point of public relations slogans like "Support Our Troops" is that they don't mean anything... that's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody is going to be against and I suppose everybody will be for, because nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything. But its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something, do you support our policy? And that's the one you're not allowed to talk about.
interview on WBAI, January 1992 http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/interviews/9201-propaganda.html.
„Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have had enough of it.“
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. United States Supreme Court justice 1841 - 1935
Speech to the Bar Association of Boston, in Speeches (1913), p. 86.
„Vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness.“
— Edmund Burke Anglo-Irish statesman 1729 - 1797
Volume iii, p. 332
„An evil may be real, tho' its cause has no relation to us: It may be real, without being peculiar: It may be real, without shewing itself to others: It may be real, without being constant: And it may be real, without falling under the general rules. Such evils as these will not fail to render us miserable, tho' they have little tendency to diminish pride: And perhaps the most real and the most solid evils of life will be found of this nature.“
— David Hume Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian 1711 - 1776
Part 1, Section 6
„Any religion that says it knows the one and only truth is evil, because it limits knowledge. Any political body that says it owns the truth is evil. Same reason.“
— Sheri S. Tepper American fiction writer 1929
Context: The Inquisition, by defining and limiting knowledge, was evil. The Taliban, by defining truth and refusing girls an education, is evil. Any religion that says it knows the one and only truth is evil, because it limits knowledge. Any political body that says it owns the truth is evil. Same reason.
Any repressive regime that seeks to control exploration and experimentation is evil. Same reason. Any regime that defines truth as a set of beliefs and occurrences that cannot be questioned, that can neither be demonstrated nor proven is not only evil but ridiculous. This includes all mythologies, miracles, etc. because, if creation happened for a reason, if it was done by God, you'd better believe every part of it, including intelligence, was done for a reason ascertainable, eventually, by intelligence. We would not follow and adore a ruler who lied and tortured. Why would we worship a God who did either? God doesn't lie and he/she/it doesn't fool around!
Shutting down inquiry is evil. Causing pain purposefully for no reason is evil. Enjoying causing pain by shutting down inquiry is an absolute evil.
„How did particle physics get itself into its current state where some of its most prominent practioners question whether their colleagues have given up on science?“
— Peter Woit American physicist 1957
p. 4 https://books.google.com/books/about/Not_Even_Wrong.html?id=pcJA3i0xKAUC&pg=PA4
„The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure“
— Joseph Campbell American mythologist, writer and lecturer 1904 - 1987
„The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man.“
— B.F. Skinner, Contingencies Of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis (1969).
