Basically it’s like half a The Clash song “I had a rough start in life, I was a bank robber, criminals and philosophers are both outsiders”.
There is no backing, explanation or argumentation of anything except that libraries are cleaner than pron movie theaters.
I feel cheated, but I would read more if there was any.
I agree, it was like a pay-walled article where you have to sign up to get to the interesting bits, but wasn't..
'There is no backing, explanation or argumentation of anything except that libraries are cleaner than pron movie theaters.'
Philosophers also, as far as I am aware, don't sporadically acquire large sacks full of illicit cash.
Philosophers are no more outsiders to society than any other high level academic. Which is to say their daily concerns in their career may be vastly different from most, but their societal place is towards the pinacle of society, a society advanced enough to allow for large segments of its population to focus on concerns further up in Maslow's hierarchy. Criminals, on the other hand, represent the society's failures and blindspots.
Equating the two really just says, "look at us, are we not identical? Do we not, both of us, exist on the extremities of societal progression?"
Kudos to the author for transitioning out of one extreme and towards another. But he doesn't need to worry that Daniel Dennett is going to shoot him for his stash.
Sure, another paragraph explaining what exactly about Kant stopped him from robbing banks would be nice. But I'm willing to accept it at face value and move on with my day.
How did reading Kant lead to a moral shift for the author? Gradually or one big moment? Did certain passages resonate with him especially?
He told us how he came to read Kant and what was going on in his life at the time. And did a pretty good job. But told us little about reading it actually affected him
It's there. You need to search for it. Raw diatribes like this are a window into the innermost nature of the human soul. My idea for a VR killer app was to have the camera attached to the front of a Red Bull airplane or snowboard. My friend, understanding more intimately human nature, realized it should be getting drunk, breaking into a bank and possibly getting involved in homicide. He was, sadly, right. I cannot morally follow that venture, but I know it is true. Here is a man that did, telling his story so that we don't have to follow.
Isn't that the premise of the film Strange Days?
I got a surprising amount of entertainment out of this comment. My mind is tickled.
Sure it is. There are 10 paragraphs of content. You just didn't like it that much because it seems like you went in with expectations.
I didn't. I liked it and I'm glad it got to the point right away without a bunch of flowery speech.
I liked the short story of a criminal become writer. I did not know that Montreal was once the bank robbery capital of the world at one time. Now I'm interested in finding out more about this Kant fellow.