So, Wiker thinks that the eventually-dominant (?) Epicurean movement staged a deliberate 2-millennium (?) campaign to get a 60s-style social revolution (?) going, and thereby steal credit (?) for scientific advancement from the Church, which was doing so well at it (?) for the first 1500 years.
Before reading it: what are the odds Wiker has marshaled enough evidence to even get that hypothesis on the radar?
Oh, and check this out from the description:
Infanticide. …
Ideas and actions once unthinkable have become commonplace.
Yeah, we sure don’t have any evidence of a Greek culture practicing infanticide, do we?
Edit: Also, the review you refer to is by a “Phillip Johnson”, who looks to be this Phillip Johnson, founder of the Intelligent Design movement.
I think that you’re agreeing with me? My point was that Wike clearly has an axe to grind and was attributing belief in “moral darwinism” to people who don’t even know what it means. You’re logically taking apart the theory I was quoting… thus we’re in agreement… or not? Or something.
The thing I was puzzled by was the way the original quote had a surface layer of congruence (darwinism, suicide for stupid people, etc) but was difficult for me to coherently parse when I tried to work out the implications and examine the logic that inspired it.
I came up wanting when I did that, and that lead me to question whether the ideas themselves were well grounded. If not, where did the ideas even come from?
Yes, we’re in agreement. I was just shocked by how bizarre the claim is, given how many improbable pieces he’s stitched together.
I think Johnson—or Wiker, if that’s what the book really argues—came to that belief by fitting his own view sympathetically into a larger narrative, and found it convenient to stretch it as far back in time as possible.
In fairness, when reading about Epicurus, a lot of his ideas do match modern post-60s beliefs, but there isn’t a common demographic that endorses the whole package.
So, Wiker thinks that the eventually-dominant (?) Epicurean movement staged a deliberate 2-millennium (?) campaign to get a 60s-style social revolution (?) going, and thereby steal credit (?) for scientific advancement from the Church, which was doing so well at it (?) for the first 1500 years.
Before reading it: what are the odds Wiker has marshaled enough evidence to even get that hypothesis on the radar?
Oh, and check this out from the description:
Yeah, we sure don’t have any evidence of a Greek culture practicing infanticide, do we?
Edit: Also, the review you refer to is by a “Phillip Johnson”, who looks to be this Phillip Johnson, founder of the Intelligent Design movement.
I think that you’re agreeing with me? My point was that Wike clearly has an axe to grind and was attributing belief in “moral darwinism” to people who don’t even know what it means. You’re logically taking apart the theory I was quoting… thus we’re in agreement… or not? Or something.
The thing I was puzzled by was the way the original quote had a surface layer of congruence (darwinism, suicide for stupid people, etc) but was difficult for me to coherently parse when I tried to work out the implications and examine the logic that inspired it.
I came up wanting when I did that, and that lead me to question whether the ideas themselves were well grounded. If not, where did the ideas even come from?
Yes, we’re in agreement. I was just shocked by how bizarre the claim is, given how many improbable pieces he’s stitched together.
I think Johnson—or Wiker, if that’s what the book really argues—came to that belief by fitting his own view sympathetically into a larger narrative, and found it convenient to stretch it as far back in time as possible.
In fairness, when reading about Epicurus, a lot of his ideas do match modern post-60s beliefs, but there isn’t a common demographic that endorses the whole package.