Thore Husfeldt > Recent Status Updates

First impression: For me, not great. I would have preferred a more scholarly presentation.

Really good.

On Leo Strauss: “Where but in America could the Socratic practice of sceptical questioning inspire professions of faith in a national ideal? Henry James was right: America is hard on all European legacies.” (Not that I find this totally fair.)

Of Eric Voegelin’s impressive output: “Such logorrhea, and in a foreign tongue, inspires amazement. And suspicion, too.”

“Innovations […] arise independently of the functions that they will be selected for.” (about Human cultural innovation)

Mind = blown:

“Clear speaking is speaking in such a way that words to not matter.” —Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies, footnote 50 to chapter XI.

Chapter 10 is fantastic.

»Kritische Haltung und der Wunsch, andere zu überzeugen, sind zwei entgegengesetzte Antriebe. Aber kritische Menschen werden – auf diese Hoffnung gründet sich mein Vertrauen in die Demokratie – auf die Dauer nur den kritischen Geist auch überzeugend finden.« Helmut Schmidt (1975)