[Buddha-l] Natural lucidity for all, a Buddhist dream

[jkirk]

I used to read Socrates's last speech to my son when he was a kid-----
we both used to weep at the thought that so morally brilliant and noble a 
person was being executed by the state.
That excercise set the template for us about the state as executioner.
Joanna
==========================================



> On Saturday 02 September 2006 15:11, Fools Crow wrote:
>
>>  I imagine that what one sees as one's
>> "reality" is usually based on such stuff as experience, education,
>> memories, etc. I don't know about you, but my whole life I have
>> occasionally caught myself editing experience, even at the moment of
>> experiencing it,
>
> Yes, of course, but it does not follow from that that one's ideas are
> mistaken. Even if it is granted that there are distortions in any given
> interpretation, it does not follow that the distortions are serious enough 
> to
> warrant being called mistakes.
>
>> So, I reckon maybe
>> what I mean by "mistaken" in this context is that my view of
>> "reality" may or may not have much in common with the reality of
>> others or with any presumed "facts" if there are such things as
>> "facts".
>
> You hedge your bets pretty thoroughly when you say "may or may not". It 
> seems
> to me that there is a remarkable amount of apparent agreement among people 
> on
> a wide range of topics. Occasionally people disagree, and sometimes they
> disagree dramatically enough that they feel people need to die rather than 
> be
> mistaken. But it seems just plain silly to me to suggest (by the use of
> quotation marks) that facts are anything less than facts. Would it not 
> serve
> your case just as well to say that people sometimes disagree about the 
> facts,
> instead of saying that people disagree about "facts".
>
>> Having had some dealings with law enforcement I know, for
>> example, that eye-witness evidence is just about the worst damned
>> evidence a person can find.
>
> That probably depends quite a bit on the witness. Some people are much 
> more
> observant than others, and some are considerably less inclined to 
> prejudice
> than others.
>
>> So maybe the whole thing is just one great big terrible mistake?
>
> That conclusion seems unnecessarily melodramatic and sophomoric.
>
>> Whom should we go to for an apology?
>
> Socrates, of course. His apology was the most eloquent in recorded 
> history.
> It's little wonder than the jury sentenced him to death. People who see as
> clearly as Socrates saw are dangerous to both tyrannies and democracies.
>
> -- 
> Richard P. Hayes
> Department of Philosophy
> University of New Mexico
> http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes
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