My What’s Wrong with the World co-blogger Steve Burton alerts me to a YouTube response to his commercial for The Last Superstition. Steve kindly defends me against it, but he needn’t have. “Proudfootz” (the creator of this response) is obviously not attacking me but rather someone named "Edward Feezer." (My name is pronounced "Fay-zer.") After all, I defend individual rights and modern science in my book – a central theme of TLS being, of course, that neither can be made sense of apart from a classical, and especially Aristotelian, metaphysical framework – while this Feezer guy (whoever he is) rejects them. I say nothing at all against capitalism, democracy, or religious toleration while this Feezer guy apparently attacks them bitterly. Feezer teaches at "Pasadena Community College," while I teach at Pasadena City College. Feezer compares Luther and Calvin to Hitler and Stalin, while I never do any such thing. My book is not a defense of Catholicism specifically, while Feezer's is. Feezer never addresses any of the standard criticisms of the traditional theistic arguments, while I do so at length. Etc. Whoever this strange “Feezer” person is, he has apparently written a book with the same title as mine and hopes to cash in on whatever success TLS has had. Thanks for exposing him, Proudfootz!
(BTW, who wants to bet that Brian Liar links to Proudfootz's video as a useful "summary" of TLS for his readers? C'mon, any takers?)
UPDATE: Proudfootz has been trying vainly to defend himself against several critics in combox exchanges both at What's Wrong with the World and at YouTube. I finally stepped in at W4 to set him straight. We'll see if he has the decency to correct his many errors, or indeed just to take down his silly video once and for all. Though I for one would miss it -- as unintentional comedy, it's brilliant!
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Ed, I just ordered a copy of your book online.
ReplyDeleteBut after Prodfootz' video, I now realise it was Feezer's book I was after! Damn! Can you give me the link to Feezer's book? I'll need it for my Papist infiltration of society.
Back to the nunnery (via tunnel of course!)
Feezer's a geezer, while Feser's a razor (apologies to William of Ockham).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Edward, since I'm criticizing you on the 'worst argument ever' thread, I think it is worthwhile to point out that I've totally got your back on this one -- the YouTube guy's 'critique' of your work was absurd!
ReplyDeleteI watched it up to the part where the narrator pointed out that - horrible dictu!- the theistic proof(s) advanced by Aristotle for his "pagan" God is of the same sort advanced by Avicenna for "Allah" and Aquinas for the Christian God!
ReplyDeletePointing this out, as if it were a valid criticism of theism, betrays such an ignorance of philosophical and theological literacy that I burst out laughing and closed the tab. Maybe I'll go back and see if there are some more gems like that one though.
Daniel, that was definitely the stupidest thing I saw, and I went several minutes beyond that point.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone. And hi, Gene -- I'm afraid I'm too busy grading a giant stack of exams (among other things) to get into an exchange over the Iraq war! Anyway, my point was just that, whatever one thinks of that subject, Ricks' specific argument (given what I've said the evidence shows about what he meant) is pretty bad.
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