Comments on: Who Recognizes Kojeve? http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/who-recognizes-kojeve/ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:11:39 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Jason http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/who-recognizes-kojeve/#comment-3049 Jason Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:16:19 +0000 http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/who-recognizes-kojeve/#comment-3049 It just goes to show that political philosophy offers very little in the realm of practical advice for how societies should organize. Sure, they can twist language and logic to make us scratch our head and think to ourselves "Hmm, working at McDonalds isn't very fulfilling!" There is very little chance, though, that someone will discover some aspect of human nature, and from that derive the optimal society. I'm always amazed by the feeling I get after I read Marx. Although his writing isn't very lucid, his ideas are, and I consistently find myself floundering at why his ideas don't align with reality. But then I realize that logic and abstractions are quite malleable, and a good rhetorician can bait-and-switch you and walk you down the wrong path while concealing you from the hard constraints that bound our universe. It just goes to show that political philosophy offers very little in the realm of practical advice for how societies should organize. Sure, they can twist language and logic to make us scratch our head and think to ourselves “Hmm, working at McDonalds isn’t very fulfilling!” There is very little chance, though, that someone will discover some aspect of human nature, and from that derive the optimal society.

I’m always amazed by the feeling I get after I read Marx. Although his writing isn’t very lucid, his ideas are, and I consistently find myself floundering at why his ideas don’t align with reality. But then I realize that logic and abstractions are quite malleable, and a good rhetorician can bait-and-switch you and walk you down the wrong path while concealing you from the hard constraints that bound our universe.

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