von Braun quote

[Paul Mackin]

Does a line in the closing pages of _Chartre_ bear on the pros and cons
of the multi-disciplinary approach? Henry Adams (Pynchon influence(?) and
"secret" novelist of a sort, as well as eminent historian) says:

"Thomas Aquinas would probably have built a better cathedral at Beauvais 
than the actual architect who planned it; but it is quite likely that
the architect might have saved Thomas some of his errors, as pointed out
by the Councils of 1276."

Of course, that was then and this is now. But it may also be worth
noting that, at the time, this architectural technique had been an 
experimental science for 200 years (H.A. says something to this effect
somewhere else in the book). Thomas kept strictly to the library.

					P.


On Wed, 3 Jan 1996 Jhildt at aol.com wrote:

> Re von Braun quote 
> 
>    hg said:
> 
> <everyone "does" philosophy.... Just because a famous physicist does it ...
> does not mean his amateurish ramblings are any good.> 
> 
>    then Bickman said:
> 
> <we have to consider the arguments of people like Richard Rorty, no longer in
> the "discipline," who have pointed out how "professional" philosophers become
> blinded and narrowed by their disciplinary concerns. >
> 
> Thank you, Bickman.
> 
> To think philosophically is human.  The tendency to philosophical expression
> is certainly not limited to academics.   
> 
> Werner v B. was a smart and observant man.  I'd listen to him carefully on
> any number of subjects outside of his "field."
> 
> 
>