Always Strive To Excel, But Only On

Always Strive To Excel, But Only On Weekends.

Philosophers Get Attention Only When They Appear To Be Doing Something Sinister - Corrupting The Youth, Undermining The Foundations Of Civilization, Sneering At All We Hold Dear. The Rest Of The Time Everybody Assumes That They Are Hard At Work Somewhere Down In The Sub-basement, Keeping Those Foundations In Good Repair. Nobody Much Cares What Brand Of Intellectual Duct Tape Is Being Used.

Nowadays, To Say That We Are Clever Animals Is Not To Say Something Philosophical And Pessimistic But Something Political And Hopeful - Namely, If We Can Work Together, We Can Make Ourselves Into Whatever We Are Clever And Courageous Enough To Imagine Ourselves Becoming. This Is To Set Aside Kant's Question "what Is Man?" And To Substitute The Question "what Sort Of World Can We Prepare For Our Great Grandchildren?

Open-mindedness Should Not Be Fostered Because, As Scripture Teaches, Truth Is Great And Will Prevail, Nor Because, As Milton Suggests, Truth Will Always Win In A Free And Open Encounter. It Should Be Fostered For Its Own Sake.

The Most Important Advance That The West Has Yet Made Is To Develop A Secularist Moral Tradition