Truth or Dare? (Part 2)

 

They Dared and now It's Declared that We weren't Spared...

 ...The Harm of their Intellectual Charm!

 

 For all the proud Enlightenment boasts such as Kant’s Aude sapere  (Dare to know), contemporary accounts of Western intellectuals leave the myth of the dispassionate truth seeker in tatters. The real situation is frequently the opposite. Many thinkers are truth twisters. For every thinker who desires to conform his thinking to reality, there are others whose desire is clearly to conform reality to their thinking. 

The cleverer the mind, the slipperier the heart, and the more sophisticated the education, the subtler the rationalization. 

Erudition lends conviction to self-deception.Paul Johnson’s evidence is startling and his conclusion sober:

  The belief seems to be spreading that intellectuals are no wiser as mentors, and no worthier as exemplars, than the witch doctors or priests of old. I share that skepticism. A dozen people picked at random on the street are at heart as likely to offer sensible views on moral and political matters as a cross-section of the intelligentsia. But I would go further. One of the principal lessons of our tragic century, which has seen so many millions of innocent lives sacrificed to improve the lot of humanity, is—beware intellectuals.                        

Paul Johnson

                                                

Anyone not convinced by this bald summary should read the authors for themselves and examine the evidence. But what is truly stunning is that, with some intellectuals, there is no need to pursue any inquiry because they make no bones about what they are doing. They candidly admit that truth is not their guiding consideration at all. 

Os Guinness, Fool’s Talk: 

Recommended Sources

Quote cited: The Intellectuals by Paul Johnson.

 

Essay from Os Guinness' Book: Fool's Talk.

 

 In case you missed it, tap or click quick link below for Part 1

 

Part 1 to Essay here 

 

(From Digital Anvil.)

Final Comment:

Perhaps we can modernise the common saying: Lies,half- truths, statistics,politicians ...and intellectuals ?

 

What do You think? Drop a comment, reflections welcome and opposing comments as well.