NOTE: Due to IMO general interest of the issue I post the present to
several lists. The Village Idiot en chef of the Village Idiots list
will perhaps ask, who is Richard.
So, Richard is a good friend, a sound physicist, philosopher and
writer with whom we have friendly quarrels stemming mainly from the
fact that he is thoroughly educated and I have no education at all.
==================
G old:
I got a lot of reactions (to my "Obama in Wonderland").
Certain called it poignant satire and I found it most gratifying,
others suggested additionally some supplements, which I
considered with appreciation. But many qualified it (arbitrarily of
course) as absurdity, calumny, defamation and scandalmongering.
I thank them from all my heart; I intended my "Obama" to be
a ecrit a scandale and they prove that I'm not far off the mark.
=================
Richard:
Georges,
I am not sufficiently insightful and certainly do not know you well enough
to have see the Obama piece anything other than a screed against him. Next
time,
if there is one, I will be more aware of the possibility that you are not being
very serious.
===================
G:
And you will be right. I'm never serious. Being serious means being
mentally - and often physically - dressed as a butler, never quitting
the tie and the bowler hat only to put on a topper when referring to
such Presidents as Carter or Obama and to such Nobel Prizes as
Al Gore or Arafat. As I don't possess - neither metaphorically nor
literally - any ties, bowler hats or toppers, I could not be serious,
even if I wanted.
All I endeavor is to be sincere, i.e. to act in good faith and not to
lie to myself.
Now, that in no way opposes "ecrit a scandale". This French term has
nothing to do with "feuille-" or "presse a scandale", but denotes
any writing intending to stir up scandals in order to get more
publicity, wider public and stronger impact.
P.G.Woodehouse writes in "Cocktail Time":
-Just as all American publishers hope that if they are good and lead
upright lives, their books will be banned in Boston, so do all English
publishers pray that theirs will be denounced from the pulpit by a
bishop. Full statistics are not to hand, but it is estimated by
competent judges that a good bishop denouncing from the pulpit with
the right organ note in his voice, can add between ten and fifteen
thousand to the sales.-
One step higher is to get indicted and risk condemnation for
slander or defamation.
The best example and the most famous "ecrit a scandale" is Zola's
"J'accuse". He risked prison, but saved Dreyfus from rabid
anti-Semites.
If I get in trouble for defaming Obama, Islamism or the nymphomaniac
E. Roosevelt, it will be a small price for getting a chance to
contribute a bit to save Israel and the West from concurrent rabid
anti-human Islamism.
Georges.
===================
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Epistemology" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
