Political Opinions
In reading a criticism of the literary works of the noted critic Lionel Trilling, I came across an observation both interesting and pertinent to our times.
The observation was that most human beings are not ideologues and that intellectual cohesion is not a feature of their politics. The assertion is that while people's political opinions may be rigid, they may not necessarily be rigorous. The writer notes "They tend to float up out of some mixture of sentiment, custom, moral aspiration, and aesthetic pleasingness." Trilling had pointed out in his writings that this does not make these opinions any less politically potent. But, as Trilling put it in his own words, "Unless we insist that politics is imagination and mind, we will learn that imagination and mind are politics, and of a kind we will not like."
Amen.
The observation was that most human beings are not ideologues and that intellectual cohesion is not a feature of their politics. The assertion is that while people's political opinions may be rigid, they may not necessarily be rigorous. The writer notes "They tend to float up out of some mixture of sentiment, custom, moral aspiration, and aesthetic pleasingness." Trilling had pointed out in his writings that this does not make these opinions any less politically potent. But, as Trilling put it in his own words, "Unless we insist that politics is imagination and mind, we will learn that imagination and mind are politics, and of a kind we will not like."
Amen.
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