Refreshingly, I’m able to bring you some hope for Intellectualism today and from someone with whom I disagree on several points.
As I wrote yesterday on my rant about an intellectual I “respect” (and who proceeded to block me on Twitter after I requested verification of claims made against the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau), Intellectualism is the exercise of the intellect at the expense of emotions. In Philosophy, it is the theory that knowledge is wholly or mainly derived from pure reason; rationalism. (source)
Note that I purposely typed “respect” in quotation marks to illustrate my dwindling regard for this academic. It appears that anyone who asked for the same proof met the block feature on his Twitter account. And this is a man who constantly attacks the social and political left’s censorship of dissenting ideas.
How is that for a paradox? Or is it irony in this case? Or, in the clearest of light, plain old hypocrisy?
But I digress. And as I write in the title of this short and loose write up, I’m here to celebrate a powerful instance of intellectual honesty.
And this seemingly rare event in today’s social climate comes from someone with whose political views I can’t entirely agree.
The Tweet is embedded below.
Let me clarify that I find Dr Jordan Peterson to be a magnificent thinker when it comes to the psychology of human behaviour; especially, as it pertains to personal and social development. His prescriptions on the influence of archetypes are undeniably accurate.
I mean, the name of this blog should alert you to that agreement.
The Devil Unbound?
It’s when he uses the power of those archetypes to (apparently) validate religious myths as true that we also disagree.
Nevertheless, that is a topic for another post.
Hope for intellectual honesty
Now, to get to the point, I’m here to celebrate Dr Peterson’s defence of his opposition for the sake of the truth. He publicly tweeted a response to Professor Saad (yes, it is tempting to write it with one less letter, but only because his attitude makes me sad), pointing out the misinformation in his tweet.
This display of intellectual and moral fortitude deserves applause; it deserves celebration and adoration.
I’ll reiterate: to defend your opposition, despite your emotions, for the sake of standing on the side of truth is philosophically and ethically beautiful.
Seeing this has given me hope.
Thank you, Dr Peterson.
— The Devil Unbound
