“Though in fairness to Thiel, he’s far from the only pop historian of ideas to make Descartes a focal point of Where it All Went Wrong.”
Yes. This, and the idea often thrown around by Roman Catholics that nominalism (Duns Scotus/Ockham) caused the Protestant Reformation, which in turn caused secularism, both really bug me. Descartes is honestly really helpful for doubters in a lot of ways, and as a Protestant, I believe the Reformation was necessary, and is still necessary.
With the caveat that Where It All Went Wrong was not one thing, I would be very interested to hear your opinion on what did go wrong, because with both the examples above (Descartes and nominalism), there’s a certain logic to them. Your past articles on Why Hume Was Wrong were really beneficial to me, so I would be very interested in your thoughts here as well.
You write like a dream. Those Free Press girls only wish they could write this well.
Why thank you. 😊
“Real classical liberalism has never been tried,” which didn’t sit particularly well with attendees agitating for something with harder edges."
(GKC's ham hands wildly gesticulate from the back of the audience)
I really hope you can start writing for The Free Press!
“Though in fairness to Thiel, he’s far from the only pop historian of ideas to make Descartes a focal point of Where it All Went Wrong.”
Yes. This, and the idea often thrown around by Roman Catholics that nominalism (Duns Scotus/Ockham) caused the Protestant Reformation, which in turn caused secularism, both really bug me. Descartes is honestly really helpful for doubters in a lot of ways, and as a Protestant, I believe the Reformation was necessary, and is still necessary.
With the caveat that Where It All Went Wrong was not one thing, I would be very interested to hear your opinion on what did go wrong, because with both the examples above (Descartes and nominalism), there’s a certain logic to them. Your past articles on Why Hume Was Wrong were really beneficial to me, so I would be very interested in your thoughts here as well.