Sophist's Choice
Well, this is grand, isn't it. I've attained to new heights of egocentrism with this blog title.
HAN: You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.
LEIA: Doesn't sound too hard.
- The Empire Strikes Back
And it's not like I'm Lex Luthor or Winston Churchill or Sir Isaac Newton (only the first of whom would even fall prey to such a horrid disposition), people within whom such a thing might be understandable. I'm me. A rancidly lazy, underachieving, sophistic wannabe, has-been artist, backslidden Christian.
In short, a failure at everything I hold dear and admire. Oh, and I'm rather scrawny, as well...so there.
So, please, look not at the title of this blog as any sort of earnest opinion of myself, but perhaps as a nod to yet another of my dreams gone by for which I still cannot help but pine.
I've two other blogs which were started about a week ago, The Wrath of Pong (on video games) and Must See TV (on, of course, TV), dedicated to specific subjects, but none on which to jot down general or random thoughts, so this, fellow reader, is just such a place for me.
The title came from a thought I was considering today which was along a philosophical bent, and much as I love to indulge the fantasy of being a valid philosopher (rather than quite a lazy one) I decided that was the tone I would like the blog to take, even if I might allow myself non-philosophical posts along the way.
At the moment of the idea of a philosophical inclination for my general blog, the synonym "sophist" occurred to me, and being a (degreed) film buff the title "Sophist's Choice" readily leapt to mind. This seemed a nice fit on all counts, but being unable to distinguish to my own satisfaction the finer differences between a sophist and a philosopher I consulted my very, very good friend The Free Dictionary search on my Firefox browser (a giddily nimble browser which I highly recommend) to see what defense I could find for such a choice.
Of course, the literal meaning of the word philosopher is a lover of knowledge or learning, though it connotes to us today, not inaccurately, more a lover of wisdom, if I'm not much mistaken. A dictionary definition goes along these lines: a student or specialist in philosophy, or a person who lives and thinks according to a particular philosophy.
A sophist -- a word not commonly used today, and certainly not contending with our dear acquaintance "philosophy" -- if we ignore the capitalized "Sophist", seems to have a more disagreeable connotation of one who is a "captious or fallacious reasoner". In that case, no doubt, many a reader will find my blog title quite fitting. However, I must insist that it is my goal to remove all fallacy from my reasoning and seek not to entangle any but extricate all.
Less contentious definitions, though, may also be found: one skilled in elaborate argumentation, a scholar or thinker. It is certainly that latter group to which I aspire and most assuredly fall egregiously short. For how far can a man progress in such a vein encumbered by affection for such trifles as television and video games. Hideous.
One can only assume extensive philosophical atrocities (not to mention grammatical) are to be conceived and borne upon these pages ... but I soldier on in spite of such certainties with the hope that, as the bard well penned, "If you pardon, we will mend."
So, "Gentles", I beg you, forgive the posts you find here when they seem too much to err according to your understanding and take what wheat you may find while sifting through the chaff.
Cheers.
HAN: You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.
LEIA: Doesn't sound too hard.
- The Empire Strikes Back
And it's not like I'm Lex Luthor or Winston Churchill or Sir Isaac Newton (only the first of whom would even fall prey to such a horrid disposition), people within whom such a thing might be understandable. I'm me. A rancidly lazy, underachieving, sophistic wannabe, has-been artist, backslidden Christian.
In short, a failure at everything I hold dear and admire. Oh, and I'm rather scrawny, as well...so there.
So, please, look not at the title of this blog as any sort of earnest opinion of myself, but perhaps as a nod to yet another of my dreams gone by for which I still cannot help but pine.
I've two other blogs which were started about a week ago, The Wrath of Pong (on video games) and Must See TV (on, of course, TV), dedicated to specific subjects, but none on which to jot down general or random thoughts, so this, fellow reader, is just such a place for me.
The title came from a thought I was considering today which was along a philosophical bent, and much as I love to indulge the fantasy of being a valid philosopher (rather than quite a lazy one) I decided that was the tone I would like the blog to take, even if I might allow myself non-philosophical posts along the way.
At the moment of the idea of a philosophical inclination for my general blog, the synonym "sophist" occurred to me, and being a (degreed) film buff the title "Sophist's Choice" readily leapt to mind. This seemed a nice fit on all counts, but being unable to distinguish to my own satisfaction the finer differences between a sophist and a philosopher I consulted my very, very good friend The Free Dictionary search on my Firefox browser (a giddily nimble browser which I highly recommend) to see what defense I could find for such a choice.
Of course, the literal meaning of the word philosopher is a lover of knowledge or learning, though it connotes to us today, not inaccurately, more a lover of wisdom, if I'm not much mistaken. A dictionary definition goes along these lines: a student or specialist in philosophy, or a person who lives and thinks according to a particular philosophy.
A sophist -- a word not commonly used today, and certainly not contending with our dear acquaintance "philosophy" -- if we ignore the capitalized "Sophist", seems to have a more disagreeable connotation of one who is a "captious or fallacious reasoner". In that case, no doubt, many a reader will find my blog title quite fitting. However, I must insist that it is my goal to remove all fallacy from my reasoning and seek not to entangle any but extricate all.
Less contentious definitions, though, may also be found: one skilled in elaborate argumentation, a scholar or thinker. It is certainly that latter group to which I aspire and most assuredly fall egregiously short. For how far can a man progress in such a vein encumbered by affection for such trifles as television and video games. Hideous.
One can only assume extensive philosophical atrocities (not to mention grammatical) are to be conceived and borne upon these pages ... but I soldier on in spite of such certainties with the hope that, as the bard well penned, "If you pardon, we will mend."
So, "Gentles", I beg you, forgive the posts you find here when they seem too much to err according to your understanding and take what wheat you may find while sifting through the chaff.
Cheers.
posted by Chris Huston | 2/27/2006 08:03:00 PM
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1 comments
