I’m saying that I think the original quote (which I did think was good)
would have been improved qua Rationality Quote by removing the specific
political content from it. (Much like the “Is Nixon a pacifist?”
problem would
have been improved by coming up with an example that didn’t involve
Republicans.)
I think the problems associated with providing concrete political examples are in this case mitigated by the author’s decision to criticize people on opposite sides of the political debate (Soviet communists and hysterical anti-communists), and by the author’s admission that his former political beliefs were mistaken to a certain degree.
I’m saying that I think the original quote (which I did think was good) would have been improved qua Rationality Quote by removing the specific political content from it. (Much like the “Is Nixon a pacifist?” problem would have been improved by coming up with an example that didn’t involve Republicans.)
I think the problems associated with providing concrete political examples are in this case mitigated by the author’s decision to criticize people on opposite sides of the political debate (Soviet communists and hysterical anti-communists), and by the author’s admission that his former political beliefs were mistaken to a certain degree.
True.