[MD] The other side of reified

[david buchanan]

Marsha asked dmb:
...I don't understand what you are talking about. ...On what basis do you believe you and James and Wallace are all in sync?  Your opinion based on "every intellectual standard"???    You and James and Wallace...   OMG!


dmb says:
Why is so hard to believe that I understand what Wallace is saying about James? My opinion is based on the research I did for my Master's thesis. The thesis committee members all signed off on it, which means that it meets the usual intellectual standards. This sort of thing happens routinely and nobody thinks it takes god-like powers. 

Wallace doesn't have to agree with James on every little point in order for them to be in fundamental agreement. But if you want to know if there is anything like a genuine sympatico between them, just ask Wallace. You've already admitted that he's a huge fan of James. Anyone could dig up a quote saying so in about one minute. So, what's the point of denying now except to make yourself look like a bullshitter? What kind of ridiculous straw man would say any two thinkers were alike in every respect? Everybody knows that nobody but straw men ever talk like that. 

And besides all that, there is nothing extraordinary about being on the same topic as Wallace and James. Knowing how James characterizes experience is not a magic trick. One just reads the primary and secondary sources, namely the works of William James and the work of James scholars - including people like Wallace. That's how one joins the conversation, the one you're not following. If you haven't read James, (and nobody is stopping you) then you simply have no basis on which to understand, let alone evaluate the Wallace quote you posted. You just haven't done the work that would allow you to agree or disagree with Wallace's criticism of James. If I've done the homework and been tested and you haven't then how likely is it that you understand it and I don't? You've launched an attack on James with a quote about James against a guy who just finished a 100 page paper on James - even though you don't know anything about James. Then you question the basis of my opinion on the topic?! What kind of upside down fruit cake are you selling here sister? This is not what a conversationalist does. That's what a bullshitter does.