Obama, Irrational Enthusiasm, and the Ascent of Principled Pragmatism
This short essay can be viewed as a codicil to Chronospark's excellent reflection on the role of absolutist thinking on the two fringes of the political spectrum.
Our candidate has come under a lot of criticism from disappointed civil libertarians for his stance on the revised FISA legislation as well as other so-called "moves to the center".
There is a charge floating about that his candidacy is buoyed by a species of irrational enthusiasm--a political counterpart to religious messianism, and that these "centrists" positions that Obama has adopted, put the lie to the hyper-idealist image that many of his supporters have of him.
Both the charges and the images are misleading and actually damage the national celebration of this remarkable candidacy.
The German idealists of the nineteenth century made the remarkable equation: Enthusiasm is Beauty. There was, they believed, a fundamental virtue in the very quality of enthusiasm. In a sense, they would have rejected the idea that irrationality was a pejorative when applied to enthusiasm. Enthusiasm was by its very nature, pre-rational, a direct sensing of, and reaction to, Nature.
Barack Obama generates a tremendous outpouring of this enthusiasm. But it is not because, he himself, is somehow a revolutionary or a zealot or a fanatic or what would be slightingly called an enthusiast,
No it is because he is both principled and practical, an almost perfect balance of idealism and realism, that he so stirs people's approval, generates such fervor in his supporters.
And he has always been thus and his recent positions should surprise no one.
We are enthusiastic about this candidacy in many ways, but not irrationally. It is a consequence of the candidate's strengths of principle, pragmatism, ideals, and compromise that stir us even if we don't articulate to ourselves exactly why we are so stirred.
Practical political action without ideals is amoral, but ideals without practical political actualization are idle theories to refashion Kant's phrase.
Principled pragmatism as practiced by our candidate is the realization of the truth of the Kantean dictum: ideals must be grounded in practical political expression and in a democracy as opposed to an autocracy such an expression must of necessity be a compromise of the good and the possible.
And to those absolutists who despise the very thought of compromise and bring up the pejorative descriptor compromising-- we have just gone through 8 years of uncompromising leadership and see what a pass that brought us to.
The discourse of absolutism that Chronospark so ably dissected, leads to an impasse; to exclusion of the political other. Red states and Blue states
The open horizon is in the path of dialogue and inclusion.
Barack Obama is the candidate of the open horizon and yes we are very enthusiastic about his rise to the highest office.
Our candidate has come under a lot of criticism from disappointed civil libertarians for his stance on the revised FISA legislation as well as other so-called "moves to the center".
There is a charge floating about that his candidacy is buoyed by a species of irrational enthusiasm--a political counterpart to religious messianism, and that these "centrists" positions that Obama has adopted, put the lie to the hyper-idealist image that many of his supporters have of him.
Both the charges and the images are misleading and actually damage the national celebration of this remarkable candidacy.
The German idealists of the nineteenth century made the remarkable equation: Enthusiasm is Beauty. There was, they believed, a fundamental virtue in the very quality of enthusiasm. In a sense, they would have rejected the idea that irrationality was a pejorative when applied to enthusiasm. Enthusiasm was by its very nature, pre-rational, a direct sensing of, and reaction to, Nature.
Barack Obama generates a tremendous outpouring of this enthusiasm. But it is not because, he himself, is somehow a revolutionary or a zealot or a fanatic or what would be slightingly called an enthusiast,
No it is because he is both principled and practical, an almost perfect balance of idealism and realism, that he so stirs people's approval, generates such fervor in his supporters.
And he has always been thus and his recent positions should surprise no one.
We are enthusiastic about this candidacy in many ways, but not irrationally. It is a consequence of the candidate's strengths of principle, pragmatism, ideals, and compromise that stir us even if we don't articulate to ourselves exactly why we are so stirred.
Practical political action without ideals is amoral, but ideals without practical political actualization are idle theories to refashion Kant's phrase.
Principled pragmatism as practiced by our candidate is the realization of the truth of the Kantean dictum: ideals must be grounded in practical political expression and in a democracy as opposed to an autocracy such an expression must of necessity be a compromise of the good and the possible.
And to those absolutists who despise the very thought of compromise and bring up the pejorative descriptor compromising-- we have just gone through 8 years of uncompromising leadership and see what a pass that brought us to.
The discourse of absolutism that Chronospark so ably dissected, leads to an impasse; to exclusion of the political other. Red states and Blue states
The open horizon is in the path of dialogue and inclusion.
Barack Obama is the candidate of the open horizon and yes we are very enthusiastic about his rise to the highest office.
