Philosophy Now Forum

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm Must an author worthy of praise be widely known and read?

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:57 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm Must an author worthy of praise be widely known and read?

But you didn't answer my question?

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:57 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:56 pm
Yes, I have no quarrel with any of that. But isn't a judgement of an author's writing an opinion? That's what I offered: my opinion, and I did so in the conscious knowledge that it was only my opinion, and nothing more. Didn't I append "IMO, of course" to my text? I hope I did...

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm Must an author worthy of praise be widely known and read?

But you didn't answer my question?

Harbal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:10 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:57 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:56 pm
Yes, I have no quarrel with any of that. But isn't a judgement of an author's writing an opinion? That's what I offered: my opinion, and I did so in the conscious knowledge that it was only my opinion, and nothing more. Didn't I append "IMO, of course" to my text? I hope I did...

Yes, you were only expressing an opinion, but its expression seemed to be intended to put Austen readers in their place as belonging to a lower order than the readers of the authors you mentioned. I just thought that was uncalled for; that's why I commented on it.

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm Must an author worthy of praise be widely known and read?

But you didn't answer my question?

I think I did: "the best of both are worthy of praise. "

attofishpi wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:25 pm

Harbal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:10 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:57 pm

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:56 pm
Yes, I have no quarrel with any of that. But isn't a judgement of an author's writing an opinion? That's what I offered: my opinion, and I did so in the conscious knowledge that it was only my opinion, and nothing more. Didn't I append "IMO, of course" to my text? I hope I did...

Yes, you were only expressing an opinion, but its expression seemed to be intended to put Austen readers in their place as belonging to a lower order than the readers of the authors you mentioned. I just thought that was uncalled for; that's why I commented on it.

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:24 pm
But you didn't answer my question?

I think I did: "the best of both are worthy of praise. "

The reason the likes of Jane Austen are so well received today is as much as allowing us an insight into their particular time period, as to the quality of her writing. Much the same goes for the earlier bloke, Shakespeares.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:33 pm On the topic of Christianity:

According to Christianity, God is all powerful and all good. Yet the God of the Bible allegedly did/does things that I, personally, do not think are good (for example the flood and telling Abraham to sacrifice his son). In addition, the world itself, which God allegedly created, is full of too much that I perceive as evil. It's so difficult for me to reconcile Christianity with my reality that it causes me to feel like I ought to just give up and call myself agnostic once again. I tried to be a Christian but the shoe just doesn't fit me. I don't know if I'll go to Hell or not but I just can't follow the God of the Christian Bible. It's too difficult. The bar is set too high and I'm just not seeing any real reward or utility in being a Christian. All the fun seems to be in doing sinful things, I have yet to see where doing things pleasing to God bears any kind of enjoyable fruit for me.

Belinda wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:37 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:33 pm On the topic of Christianity:

According to Christianity, God is all powerful and all good. Yet the God of the Bible allegedly did/does things that I, personally, do not think are good (for example the flood and telling Abraham to sacrifice his son). In addition, the world itself, which God allegedly created, is full of too much that I perceive as evil. It's so difficult for me to reconcile Christianity with my reality that it causes me to feel like I ought to just give up and call myself agnostic once again. I tried to be a Christian but the shoe just doesn't fit me. I don't know if I'll go to Hell or not but I just can't follow the God of the Christian Bible. It's too difficult. The bar is set too high and I'm just not seeing any real reward or utility in being a Christian. All the fun seems to be in doing sinful things, I have yet to see where doing things pleasing to God bears any kind of enjoyable fruit for me.

It's best to follow your own god and leave the flocks to follow their own priests. It's also best to decide for yourself what moral principles matter to you. Paddle your own canoe sort of thing.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:03 pm What would be an example of an author who is worthy of praise not being widely known and/or read--at least in the long term, including posthumous fame?

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:40 pm

Belinda wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:37 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:33 pm On the topic of Christianity:

According to Christianity, God is all powerful and all good. Yet the God of the Bible allegedly did/does things that I, personally, do not think are good (for example the flood and telling Abraham to sacrifice his son). In addition, the world itself, which God allegedly created, is full of too much that I perceive as evil. It's so difficult for me to reconcile Christianity with my reality that it causes me to feel like I ought to just give up and call myself agnostic once again. I tried to be a Christian but the shoe just doesn't fit me. I don't know if I'll go to Hell or not but I just can't follow the God of the Christian Bible. It's too difficult. The bar is set too high and I'm just not seeing any real reward or utility in being a Christian. All the fun seems to be in doing sinful things, I have yet to see where doing things pleasing to God bears any kind of enjoyable fruit for me.

It's best to follow your own god and leave the flocks to follow their own priests. It's also best to decide for yourself what moral principles matter to you. Paddle your own canoe sort of thing.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a very lonely and desolate path for me to take. The main reason I gave Christianity a try was that there's more fellowship and community to be found in religious institutions.

Harbal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:10 pm Yes, you were only expressing an opinion, but its expression seemed to be intended to put Austen readers in their place as belonging to a lower order than the readers of the authors you mentioned. I just thought that was uncalled for; that's why I commented on it.

Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:44 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:03 pm What would be an example of an author who is worthy of praise not being widely known and/or read--at least in the long term, including posthumous fame?

In my opinion, such an author might be Herman Hesse. But you might find his writing poor, or otherwise unimpressive. That's rather the point with literary criticism, isn't it?

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:40 pm

Belinda wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:37 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:33 pm On the topic of Christianity:

According to Christianity, God is all powerful and all good. Yet the God of the Bible allegedly did/does things that I, personally, do not think are good (for example the flood and telling Abraham to sacrifice his son). In addition, the world itself, which God allegedly created, is full of too much that I perceive as evil. It's so difficult for me to reconcile Christianity with my reality that it causes me to feel like I ought to just give up and call myself agnostic once again. I tried to be a Christian but the shoe just doesn't fit me. I don't know if I'll go to Hell or not but I just can't follow the God of the Christian Bible. It's too difficult. The bar is set too high and I'm just not seeing any real reward or utility in being a Christian. All the fun seems to be in doing sinful things, I have yet to see where doing things pleasing to God bears any kind of enjoyable fruit for me.

It's best to follow your own god and leave the flocks to follow their own priests. It's also best to decide for yourself what moral principles matter to you. Paddle your own canoe sort of thing.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a very lonely and desolate path for me to take. The main reason I gave Christianity a try was that there's more fellowship and community to be found in religious institutions.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:33 pm On the topic of Christianity:

According to Christianity, God is all powerful and all good. Yet the God of the Bible allegedly did/does things that I, personally, do not think are good (for example the flood and telling Abraham to sacrifice his son). In addition, the world itself, which God allegedly created, is full of too much that I perceive as evil. It's so difficult for me to reconcile Christianity with my reality that it causes me to feel like I ought to just give up and call myself agnostic once again. I tried to be a Christian but the shoe just doesn't fit me. I don't know if I'll go to Hell or not but I just can't follow the God of the Christian Bible. It's too difficult. The bar is set too high and I'm just not seeing any real reward or utility in being a Christian. All the fun seems to be in doing sinful things, I have yet to see where doing things pleasing to God bears any kind of enjoyable fruit for me.