By LEVIATHAN1859
Added: Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:15:14 UTC

Not a subscriber myself, I read today the first part (the second part being for subscribers) of Jackson's Lears critique of Sam Harris in the May 16th edition of the The Nation magazine (see citation at bottom).

Typical of post-modern relativists, Lears asserts several fallacies in his criticism of Harris and the other "horseman." Two fallacies that build the foundation of Lears' reasoning are the misunderstanding that a scientific worldview is inherently positivism, and the liberal fallacy rooted in Gould's argument that religion and science are exclusive epistemological magesteria.

The basic premise in "Same Old New Atheists" is that Harris is a scientific chauvinist who proffers the dogmatic belief in positivism. Lears argues that positivism, the belief that science will bring future prosperity, is untenable because scientific beliefs constantly change. Not understanding the cumulative and aggregate nature of scientific knowledge, he assumes scientific knowledge, being temporary, is equally reliable with the metaphysical claims of religions.

Regarding the foe of mobilized dogmatism against which the New Atheists struggle, Lears summarizes, "Our only defense, Harris insists, is the rejection of both religion and cultural relativism, and the embrace of science as the true source of moral value." Lears finds this assertion dissonent because he believes that facts and values are mutually exclusive categories.

It seems to me that the real "beef" Lears has with Harris and Hitchens, is the ongoing resentment against intellectuals who break with liberal orthodoxy. Lears is concerned about "Big Science" obfuscating real research and infecting scientists, Sam Harris especially, with a pro-war agenda. Lears is disdainful of Christopher Hitchens' political support for the Iraq War because Hitchens is "bored" with the death and suffering thus inflicted.

The Left simply cannot digest any arguments against cultural relativism. In this example, the author reveals his political frustration, but rather than discuss particulars of foreign policy, he without qualification attempts to criticize the scientific and philosophical arguments and looses. The trend of relativism among intellectuals degrades intellectual integrity and cripples the progress of Reason. As long as these cowards prostrate themselves before political correctness, it won't be long before all of us are forced to prostrate ourselves before the caliphate of unreason.

Let's discuss our strategy as secularists regarding relativism and positivism. There is a real danger of honest discourse and skepticism being lampooned and marginalized. I'm sure many of you too have been called bigoted. This must stop. We must not be ashamed to speak out for values based on fact.

-Matthew Nelson, Rochester, NY

Lears, J.. "Same Old New Atheism. " Rev. of: The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The Moral Landscape, by Sam Harris. The Nation 16 May 2011: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 3 Jun. 2011.

Article link here.

TAGGED: ATHEISM, PHILOSOPHY