by Anonymous Logician, Copyright October 17, 2006, all rights reserved. 647 views
Contemporary ignorance of presuppositions keeps on amazing me. I had to laugh at the recent radio spot for Delaware congressman Mike Castle. The ad quoted several newspapers which had ranked Castle as the tri-state area's "best congressman," a man who spurned "partisan politics" in favor of "getting things done."
The hilarious thing is that the ad treats politics like breakfast cereal or AA batteries–let's just judge performance, not ideology. But qualitative judgments about congressmen are inherently ideological! How do we create a standard of what a "good" congressman is? What "things" should our guy be "getting done"?
Our underlying concept or standard of ethics determines our view of what a "good" statesman should "get done." Yet this is precisely what divides different voters.
Asking us to put our philosophies of ethics and politics aside at the polls is like asking Alabamans and Georgians to simply sit back and enjoy the Auburn-Georgia game. It just ain't gon' happen.