[Buddha-l] Oops--Article is from NY Times

[Richard Hayes]

On Aug 28, 2010, at 8:00, sjziobro at cs.com wrote:

> Richard,
> 
> 
> Two points here.  The anthropologico-theological sense of harmartia certainly connotes a relationship with the divine, whether the divine is conceived in a monotheistic or polytheistic manner.  It is not thinking for oneself that is the mark of erring, because one can think for oneself at any time.  

I have just finished reading through Isaiah and Jeremiah. One certainly gets the impression that those Israelites who thought for themselves that it would be acceptable to worship with and in the manner of their neighbors were being punished by being invaded by the Babylonians. One definitely gets the impression that thinking for oneself has dire consequences when one's thinking does not accord with what some people are claiming is God's thinking. 

>  Second point.  We apparently agree that hubris is a reality in the academic world.  I haven't escaped it outside the world of academe.  How you've escaped it within is a wonder, especially since you've never been known to think wrongly.

I think wrongly all the time. Just ask Lusthaus. Or just ask me. I'll happily supply a very long list of spectacular errors I have made, and quite a few just plain dumb mistakes.  How I have not been known to think is academically. I am like a fish out of water on an academic campus. I never wanted to have an academic career, but I somehow never managed to acquire any marketable skills. The only place that would have me was a philosophy department. That's certainly nothing to be proud of. 

> 
Humbly yours,
Richard