Reported by:

Uncle Ted has terminal cancer 😭

Frick this is actually sad, someone who influenced a good bit of my own personal philosophy and thinking is going to pass.

Pour one of out for a real homie.

282
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

2541 comments

You are a slave to technology you terminally online troglodyte.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

lol cry more cute twink

Your "personal philosophy" is based on a hackjob manifesto on par with an undergrad philosophy paper. Max Weber covered the issues far better a century earlier.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

not an anprim guy, just discontent with modern society for many of the same reasons Ted talks about.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Ted blaming current issues solely on current technology is nothing more than an expression of his philosophical ignorance. The shit Ted complains about are just the contemporary manifestations of the overriding impulse toward rationalism that drives modern society. Remember how he complains about scientists pursuing marginal studies (or something along those lines, it's been a while since I've looked at the manifesto)? He expounds on "surrogate activities" as if it's a novel idea, but these are nothing more than complaints about rationalism, i.e. he missed the forest for the trees. He laments the industrial revolution as if it is the source of society's woes, rather than a phenomenon produced by the continual encroachment of rationalism into more aspects of human society.

Ted was a smart man, no doubt, but he is a neophyte when it comes to philosophical thought. He is still convinced that he was offering some kind of novel philosophical insight when he really just mixed deep ecology with the trappings of Weber's work and an unhealthy dose of misanthropy.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Can you explain what rationalism means in this context? Genuinely curious

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

It's pretty late so here is the Wikipedia page that gives a decent introduction. Also, I am by no means an authority on this.

My understanding of the concept is that rationalization embodies the formation of logical, abstract models for the world predicated on a collection of consistent mechanisms/rules through which the world can be understood and predicted. For instance, mathematics is one of the oldest examples of rationalization. The study of business administration would be an application of rationality to business interactions.

Institutional bureaucracy is one of the primary focuses of Weber's exploration of rationality. In this sense, technocrats are practitioners of rationalism.

Edit: Long ago rationalism used to be contrasted with empiricism but I think modern philosophy considers that dialectic to be a bit outdated now. It stems from a time when spiritualism vs materialism played a much larger role in philosophical discourse.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The division between rationalism as edicted here and empiricism is fundamental tho.

A complex civilisation with a complex legal system would be rationnal (as defined here). But it can be at the same times completely bunk.

A good exemple would be imperial china. They had a complex legal system, which was self consistent and dependent upon religious beliefs, which were obvs nonsense.


All in all, I do not believe ted to be assimilatable to weber thought, in that what he rejected was not the rationalism, but rather the empiricism. A complex society with a lot of legalised beliefs would have been fine for ted, he rejected the rapid progress and effectiveness of empiricism, rather than rationalism (yet again as defined by weber).

(I do believe both rationalism and empiricism to be good, so I am a complete opposite to everyone involved)

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I actually looked a little into the modern state of the "rational v empirical" debate after posting this last night and it does not seem to be as dialectic today as it used to be. However, it's clear that it's still an important distinction conceptually.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

DEBOOOONKED.

And now I leave for the next two months again.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

More comments

Can you expand upon this? Say, in a well written paper about 10-15 pages in length?

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

It's not my job to educate you, sweaty.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

:marseycry:

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

He doesn't cite prior work granted, but he also doesn't claim novelty, really. His primary innovation is the drive to actually do something about it, instead of just writing philosophy. In that respect he's unique.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

he also doesn't claim novelty, really

He sure acts like an arrogant frick when challenged in correspondence on what was essentially a long-form creative writing exercise. Iirc, he just falls back on "you didn't read it properly", which is on par with a tankie reaction to criticisms of Marxist-Leninism.

His primary innovation is the drive to actually do something about it

In that respect he's unique.

...what? His innovation was to take action on a strongly-held conviction?

I think you're trying to claim that he was the first to use violence to promote environmentalism. That is still not entirely correct. Radical environmentalism finds its roots in late 19th and early 20th century anarchism (a very different beast than anarchist movements post-WW2). There's nothing new about using violence to dismantle the state in the pursuit of a greater goal.

Ted is horrendously overrated.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

dilate

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

lol

Edit: wow, I even managed to snag a downmarsey from @snallygaster.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

:marseytroublemaker:

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

:marseycry:

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Suicide fuel tbh.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I mean if you're attacking Uncle Ted it's going to happen lol

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

You just substitute "rationalism" for "industrial society." To quote Wittgenstein, "words words words, cute twink."

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Max Weber covered the issues far better a century earlier.

Yes, but he didnt make cool gifts

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

White elephant exchanges with Teddy must've been a blast.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Jewish chad Weber

Opiniom discarded lol

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Opiniom

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Opinyumm

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

You are too, its just a matter of degree. Ted is based though.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

No denial of that, but I at least get my time in the sun and fresh air.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

please, write more about this online.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

![](/images/16442641417.webp)

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Link copied to clipboard
Action successful!
Error, please refresh the page and try again.