Naïve Readings
Reveilles Political and Philosophic
Ralph Lerner
- One
- sure
- fact
- of
- humanity
- is
- that
- we
- all
- cherish
- our
- opinions
- and
- will
- often
- strongly
- resist
- efforts
- by
- others
- to
- change
- them.
- Philosophers
- and
- politicians
- have
- long
- understood
- this,
- and
- whenever
- they
- have
- sought
- to
- get
- us
- to
- think
- differently
- they
- have
- often
- resorted
- to
- forms
- of
- camouflage
- that
- slip
- their
- unsettling
- thoughts
- into
- our
- psyche
- without
- raising
- alarm.
- In
- this
- fascinating
- examination
- of
- a
- range
- of
- writers
- and
- thinkers,
- Ralph
- Lerner
- offers
- a
- new
- method
- of
- reading
- that
- detects
- this
- camouflage
- and
- offers
- a
- way
- toward
- deeper
- understandings
- of
- some
- of
- history’s
- most
- important—and
- most
- concealed—messages.Lerner
- analyzes
- an
- astonishing
- diversity
- of
- writers,
- including
- Francis
- Bacon,
- Benjamin
- Franklin,
- Edward
- Gibbon,
- Judah
- Halevi,
- Thomas
- Jefferson,
- Abraham
- Lincoln,
- Moses
- Maimonides,
- and
- Alexis
- de
- Tocqueville.
- He
- shows
- that
- by
- reading
- their
- words
- slowly
- and
- naïvely,
- with
- wide-open
- eyes
- and
- special
- attention
- for
- moments
- of
- writing
- that
- become
- self-conscious,
- impassioned,
- or
- idiosyncratic,
- we
- can
- begin
- to
- see
- a
- pattern
- that
- illuminates
- a
- thinker’s
- intent,
- new
- messages
- purposively
- executed
- through
- indirect
- means.
- Through
- these
- experimental
- readings,
- Lerner
- shows,
- we
- can
- see
- a
- deep
- commonality
- across
- writers
- from
- disparate
- times
- and
- situations,
- one
- that
- finds
- them
- artfully
- challenging
- others
- to
- reject
- passivity
- and
- fatalism
- and
- start
- thinking afresh.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
