tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660901311853360160.post4858882373966857952..comments2023-05-08T05:02:15.918-07:00Comments on Free Lemming: A Heavenly Despot Exempt from Natural LawUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660901311853360160.post-80850631057127962382009-11-19T02:06:25.978-08:002009-11-19T02:06:25.978-08:00It is ironic that the neomarxist Max Horkheimer ar...It is ironic that the neomarxist Max Horkheimer argues that the paternal authority of the traditional family leads to "The Authoritarian Personality," which, being unable to resolve the Freudian conflict between loving and hating the father, worships a patriarchal God and the State instead. But it is not the traditional family that is the problem, or a Freudian complex being played out, in regards to the average citizen's obeisance to authority (both real and imaginary) in society, but rather the lack of critical thinking and rationality that leads to a poorly developed ego, and the immaturity that ensues from embracing the ethic of altruism. A man must be a man in full, having both his own spine with which to stand firmly on (correct) moral principles, and rational respect for the rights of other individuals. The conflict that is the child versus his father is merely a matter of growing up that every man must work through himself and overcome. It is not the "deep philosophy" that makes men worship the State, though the argument that it is a contributing factor to his worshiping God is more convincing, and perhaps more suitable to application to those societies not founded on rational-legal orders (I find the neomarxist argument that The Enlightenment is a kind of religious manifestation only half-correct and a bit wanting).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660901311853360160.post-34363042925871468722009-11-19T00:39:55.559-08:002009-11-19T00:39:55.559-08:00I would argue that, if reason is abandoned, one se...I would argue that, if reason is abandoned, one seeks to invent a mystical entity that "does the thinking" for him and tells him what to do. It's quite clear that, just as God, the government is seen as a powerful magician capable of turning stone into bread. At the root of both phenomena is the rejection of the law of identity - i.e. the belief in magic, either explicit (as in religion) or implicit and hidden (as in statism).Reaganxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11767392975509574516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660901311853360160.post-71872538162530638512009-11-18T07:29:15.370-08:002009-11-18T07:29:15.370-08:00Your objections to Aquinas' Christian disposit...Your objections to Aquinas' Christian disposition on Natural Law brings up an interesting deep philosophical point, one that I would like to see you pursue, if given the time and motivation. What are the linkages between religion and the modern state (meaning post Louis XIV, but perhaps there is a better marking point) at the level of concepts? Does the sovereignty of the state stand as a proxy for the majesty of God? And God for the parent, at the psychosocial level?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com