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Quote by David Stove

“We set ourselves to achieve a society that would be maximally tolerant. But that resolve not only gives maximum scope to the activities of those who have set themselves to achieve the maximally intolerant society. It also... paralyses our powers of resistance to them.”

Quote by David Stove

Work

On Enlightenment

This book delves into the philosophical underpinnings of enlightenment, tracing its origins and evolution through different philosophical schools of thought. It analyzes the key ideas and figures associated with enlightenment, providing a nuanced understanding of its significance in shaping modern intellectual and cultural landscapes. more

Author

David Stove

David Stove (September 15, 1927 - June 2, 1994) was an Australian philosopher recognized for his contributions to the philosophy of science and ethics. He was particularly influential in the discussions surrounding the scientific status of evolutionary theory and the philosophy of mind. Stove's writing was renowned for its wit and rigor, and he was a notable critic of philosophical naturalism. more

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“The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions of the expertise of the few and of the moral agency of everyone are the presuppositions of the dramas which those characters enact. To cry out that the emperor had no clothes on was at least to pick on one man only to the amusement of everyone else; to declare that almost everyone is dressed in rags is much less likely to be popular.”

“Electronic brains may help us to use our heads but will not excuse us from that duty, and as to our hearts-cardiograms cannot diagnose what may be most ill about them, or confirm what may be best. The faithful woman and the versatile brave man, the wakeful intelligence open to inspiration or grace-these are still exemplary for our kind, as they always were and always will be.”

“It is marriage, perhaps, which had given man the best of his freedom, given him his little kingdom of his own within the big kingdom of the state.... It is a true freedom because it is a true fulfilment, for man, woman and children. Do we then want to break marriage? If we do break it, it means we all fall to a far greater extent under the direct sway of the State.”