In her brilliant TED talk Bari Weiss cited Aristotle for the idea that courage is the First Virtue, the virtue that makes all others possible.
Secondarily, she said that the people who characterize certain words as violence are undermining the prospect of debating contrasting viewpoints, which is the way true social progress is always mad…
In her brilliant TED talk Bari Weiss cited Aristotle for the idea that courage is the First Virtue, the virtue that makes all others possible.
Secondarily, she said that the people who characterize certain words as violence are undermining the prospect of debating contrasting viewpoints, which is the way true social progress is always made; in other words, true progress isn’t achieved through violent acts, and if words are treated as “violence” there can be no productive conversations because the person who believes that will simply adopt a defensive stance.
This was my long-winded way of paraphrasing and endorsing Bari’s views. Agree with her on every point or not, she is a blessing.
Commenting on my own Comment, I wish to raise a challenge provoked by Bari’s assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, that courage is the foremost virtue.
As background, everybody knows that just about every newspaper endorses political candidates, the presidency included. The Free Press is an online newspaper.
My challenge: Does the Free Press editorial staff have the courage to endorse a presidential candidate as we get closer to this year’s election? Or will they wimp out, fearful of losing subscribers because of their endorsement? If courage is the first virtue, I want to see it in action rather than merely expressed as a platitude. How about it, Bari?
In her brilliant TED talk Bari Weiss cited Aristotle for the idea that courage is the First Virtue, the virtue that makes all others possible.
Secondarily, she said that the people who characterize certain words as violence are undermining the prospect of debating contrasting viewpoints, which is the way true social progress is always made; in other words, true progress isn’t achieved through violent acts, and if words are treated as “violence” there can be no productive conversations because the person who believes that will simply adopt a defensive stance.
This was my long-winded way of paraphrasing and endorsing Bari’s views. Agree with her on every point or not, she is a blessing.
Commenting on my own Comment, I wish to raise a challenge provoked by Bari’s assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, that courage is the foremost virtue.
As background, everybody knows that just about every newspaper endorses political candidates, the presidency included. The Free Press is an online newspaper.
My challenge: Does the Free Press editorial staff have the courage to endorse a presidential candidate as we get closer to this year’s election? Or will they wimp out, fearful of losing subscribers because of their endorsement? If courage is the first virtue, I want to see it in action rather than merely expressed as a platitude. How about it, Bari?