Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Something to think about.

There is an ethical problem at the root of our philosophical difficulties; for men are most anxious to find truth, but very reluctant to accept it. We do not like to be cornered by evidence, and even when truth is there, in its impersonal and commanding objectivity, our greatest difficulty remains; it is for me to bow to it in spite of the fact that it is not exclusively mine, for you to accept it thought it cannot be exclusively yours. In short, finding out truth is not so hard; what is hard is not to run away from truth once we have found it. When it is not "yes but", our "yes" is often enough a "yes, and"; it applies much less to what we have just been told than to what we are about to say. The greatest among philosophers are those who do not flinch in the presence of truth, but welcome it with the simple words: yes, Amen.
-- Etienne Gilson, Historian of Philosophy


In the above quote, I think that one could easily replace "theological" or "political" (etc.) for "philosophical."

Oh, and, we're back online with blogs.