Ultimately, however, the aim of my post was to establish that there isn’t some kind of important knowledge best gained through the reading of original sources. The target of my argument was the frequently given argument that somehow spurning these great original works puts you at some kind of ‘objective’ disadvantage in terms of learning/knowledge relative to those who do. Sure these are fuzzy terms and I think most of them aren’t even really meaningful but the idea the advocates of this position have in mind is that somehow reading literature classics and other ‘great’ originals somehow helps you make intellectual contributions more than reading more recent works instead.
Given that new ‘great’ originals continue to be published albeit quite slowly one can immediately conclude that either we are making progress or that there is no reason to believe reading great originals gives you a boost (i.e. helps you make progress). After all if we aren’t making progress then these new books can’t give later generations a boost (that would be progress) hence, one can’t justifiably claim that reading great originals is an aid to academic/intellectual progress.
Given that my claim is an entirely negative one I need not make any assumptions as you allege. Rather I’m just offering a reducto of position that you are simply dismissing from the start.
Ultimately, however, the aim of my post was to establish that there isn’t some kind of important knowledge best gained through the reading of original sources. The target of my argument was the frequently given argument that somehow spurning these great original works puts you at some kind of ‘objective’ disadvantage in terms of learning/knowledge relative to those who do. Sure these are fuzzy terms and I think most of them aren’t even really meaningful but the idea the advocates of this position have in mind is that somehow reading literature classics and other ‘great’ originals somehow helps you make intellectual contributions more than reading more recent works instead.
Given that new ‘great’ originals continue to be published albeit quite slowly one can immediately conclude that either we are making progress or that there is no reason to believe reading great originals gives you a boost (i.e. helps you make progress). After all if we aren’t making progress then these new books can’t give later generations a boost (that would be progress) hence, one can’t justifiably claim that reading great originals is an aid to academic/intellectual progress.
Given that my claim is an entirely negative one I need not make any assumptions as you allege. Rather I’m just offering a reducto of position that you are simply dismissing from the start.