MDDM Ch. 72 philosophy is for everyone

[owen j mcgrann]

otto wrote:
 >Who decides what philosophy is bastardized & misunderstood and what is not?

nice move.  this question can indeed be a dilemma.  however, i do believe 
that most philosophy really isn't that difficult.  it takes a little bit of 
work (not that much) to learn the technical language, but then philosophy 
is generally pretty straight forward.  unlike fiction, philosophy is essay 
and aims at providing answers to the questions posed rather than posing 
questions and providing manifold possibilities.  there is generally less 
ambiguity in philosophical texts than in novels.  look at camus' work 
-  _The Stranger_ and _The Plague_ presents the fictional universe of ideas 
and questions which camus elaborates on in _The Myth of Sisyphus_ and _The 
Rebel_.

there are some philosophers who are notoriously difficult - generally 
system builders (and i have found in my personal experience that the will 
to system displays a weakness of mind).  hegel comes immediately to 
mind.  in terms of people like this, then yes - there is less of a clear 
line between misappropriation and valid use.  honestly, i don't know in 
this case.

otto wrote:
 >Please tell me what you think of Derrida as found in the writings of
 >Jonathan Culler.

i haven't read any culler.  however, i'm taking a class on 20th century 
continental philosophy this semester which covers some derrida.  i'll try 
to read some culler along with the derrida and let you know what i think.

- owen

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thestranger.org

"i was curious and eager to know only what
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         - proust: in search of lost time