We seem to be caught in a dilemma. We can’t just dismiss the unacceptable prejudices of the past as unimportant. But if we think that holding morally objectionable views disqualifies anyone from being considered a great thinker or a political leader, then there’s hardly anyone from history left.
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While the narratives we like tell tend to be more like Hollywood movies, reality looks more like the work of a Beckett or a Pinter. The more we tidy the tales we tell, the more they resemble works of fiction rather than truthful histories.
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Delighted to have been the guest on ABC’s The Philosopher’s Zone with David Rutledge. Recorded while in Brisbane for an insanely brief visit. I think I was coping with the jet-lag at the time… Listen or download here.
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“Julian Baggini, Tiffany Watt Smith and Christopher Harding join Rana Mitter to talk about philosophical traditions around the world, modern Japanese history and Schadenfreude.” Listen again to this episode of BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking.
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In Japan, thought and action, philosophy and life, are more intimately connected than most other places. Philosophy is largely an attempt to articulate and develop insights into how to live and who we are that are embedded in practices more than they are rooted in theories. The documentaries Ramen Heads and Jiro Dreams of Sushi show what much of this philosophy means more eloquently than can be straightforwardly said.
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