Tuesday, December 07, 2004
PUTTING THE LEFT 2 RIGHTS: One of the most exciting ventures (for me at least) in the world of blogging in quite some time is the new super-group-blog Left2Right, in which thoughtful left-leaning academics, most of them in philosophy or related fields (political theory, philosophy of law, etc.), a large number of them in some way associated with the University of Michigan, seek to bridge the gap between left and right. They aim to do so, it seems, by trying to get past the self-satisfaction and contempt for opposing points of view that is often perceived, and does in all too many cases exist, among left-leaning intellectuals. This is a worthy, timely goal, and Left2Right has perhaps the most stellar collection of contributors to any group blog yet (Rorty, Appiah, Sher, Satz, Darwall, Deigh, Gerald Dworkin, Josh Cohen, Elizabeth Anderson, Don Herzog, to name but a few of them); so it promises great things. It'll be interesting to see how well things 'gell', and if the Left2Righters are able to succeed in their goals both of avoiding partisan condescension and -- even more difficult, perhaps -- opening up a genuine, productive conversation with conservatives. Best of luck to them!
(Thus far, things seem off to a good start; I've particularly enjoyed David Velleman's take on David Brooks, Elizabeth Anderson on Hume and partisanship, Gerald Dworkin and Anthony Appiah on respect for the right, and pretty much everything by Don Herzog, who's one of the liveliest writers working in political theory and, I'd say, a natural blogger [this is meant as a compliment])
(Thus far, things seem off to a good start; I've particularly enjoyed David Velleman's take on David Brooks, Elizabeth Anderson on Hume and partisanship, Gerald Dworkin and Anthony Appiah on respect for the right, and pretty much everything by Don Herzog, who's one of the liveliest writers working in political theory and, I'd say, a natural blogger [this is meant as a compliment])
