Is it a defining feature of liberalism to prefer theories of how the world should work to the way it actually does?
One of the most annoying things about researching Athena for my dissertation has been reading those (supposed) scholars who insist this owl-eyed deity was really just a man in drag or a woman who wanted to be a man. They base this conclusion on her closeness to her father (as if no woman had ever been close to her father) and her supposed masculine attire. She was often glad in the armor in which she was born. And, well back then, women didn’t wear armor.
They make this hasty judgment based on appearance alone, but scratch the surface and Athena is very clearly female. She always wear a peplos, the garment most women wore in classical Greece indeed, the presentation of a new peplos to the goddess was the culmination of the quadrennial Panthenaia. She measured herself against her female counterparts, indeed, started a war because a prince of Troy found her Aphrodite fairer than she.
Such hasty judgments seem commonplace among many in academia–and on the political and social left. In his book, Taking Sex Differences Seriously, Steven E. Rhoads writes :
Some feminists have devoted entire books to the claim that women will close the strength gap with men once they train as men do, but the best evidence shows otherwise.
Kind of sounds like Democrats’ confidence back at the beginning of the year that the “so-called stimulus” would create hundreds of thousands of jobs, but the best evidence showed otherwise. And yet now Dr. Christina Romer, Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers now saying that that stimulus won’t need to much growth by mid-2010 and unemployment is likely to remain about 10%, the White House is finally taking a look at that best evidence.
Like so many in academia — and on the political and cultural left — these officials prefer their theories of how the world should work to actual evidence of the way it does.
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That last sentence is so correct….and in so many ways. The left is all about the ideal. I’ve watched a lot of Star Trek and enjoy it, and I like a lot of the ideals that are held by the ‘Federation of Planets,’ but someone forgot to tell the left that this is TV fantasy…..at least at this time. When it comes to global warming and possible solutions, they think physical principles can just be thrown out and ignored. They think we are on the verge of operating at the same fictional level that has been depicted in the movies. I guess they believe in the dilithium crystal. The world will be windmills and solar panels, and devices will operate with some magical rock. So we head down the road of making the economy green…..That’s where all the jobs will be! What a disaster.
Comment by Scott Lassiter — October 23, 2009 @ 7:42 am - October 23, 2009
“….. the White House is finally taking a look at that best evidence.”
And yet, they see the same “solution” to the problem that exacerbated the situation. This proves, they are either insane (doing the same thing over and over and over yet expecting a different result) or doing this intentionally.
Either way, we get the screws put to us.
Comment by JP — October 23, 2009 @ 12:06 pm - October 23, 2009
Looking forward to your dissertation. I personally find it very insulting that so many scholars can’t accept a strong woman. Tells me something about them, not Athena.
Not sure the comparison is apt at all, but I’m wondering if Sarah Palin is suffering from some of that. She has succeeded in a man’s world as a very feminine woman. (giving birth to 5 children is about as feminine as one can get)
Someone else will have to have the thesis on why such women are so loathed and feared.
Hillary avoided all that by not being very feminine – her choice of pants suits is the prime example. There isn’t a peplos anywhere in sight.
Comment by Leah — October 23, 2009 @ 12:35 pm - October 23, 2009
your “best evidence” is pretty weak
Comment by Chad — October 23, 2009 @ 3:19 pm - October 23, 2009
[...] Is it a defining feature of liberalism to prefer theories of how the world should work to the way it… [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Obama: Mopping up With an Ineffective Cleaning Solution — October 24, 2009 @ 12:07 am - October 24, 2009
re: #4
Yep, History is such a weak form of evidence.
Okay, maybe not, but people who refuse to learn from it certainly are prone to thinking something that doesn’t work, and didn’t work is better than the things that have proven to work.
Comment by JP — October 24, 2009 @ 2:10 am - October 24, 2009
Any -ism (liberalism, conservatism, populism, etc) runs on theories of how the world *should* work. So I’d say a preference for those theories is a defining feature of them all, not just liberalism.
Comment by DRH — October 24, 2009 @ 12:10 pm - October 24, 2009
Wasn’t the entire point of Athena’s annual festival and procession to give her a new dress?
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 24, 2009 @ 12:14 pm - October 24, 2009