Wolterstorff is a careful student of the 'bob and weave' school of philosophical polemics

from The Immanent Frame ifblog@ssrc.org to Tusar Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 18 Mar 2009 01:07 subject Wolterstorff and Smith discuss "Justice" The Immanent Frame Secularism, religion, and the public sphere

New at The Immanent Frame, an extended exchange between Nicholas Wolterstorff and James K. A. Smith:
Nicholas Wolterstorff: “The fine texture: A response to Smith”
“I am at a loss to understand why Smith thinks that I have 'absorbed the atomistic individualism of modern liberalism'—why he thinks that I am a 'Whig Calvinist.' I hold that rights are a species of normative social relationships; sociality is of the essence of rights. A right is a right to the good of being treated a certain way by one’s fellows or by some social entity. I hold that social entities of various sorts have rights, and that, conversely, they are quite capable of violating the rights of you and me. I furthermore hold that rights are grounded in what respect for worth requires; rights are not, in my view, protectors of autonomy. So where is the individualism?” View this full post.

James K. A. Smith: “'Bob and weave': A response to Wolterstorff”
“Nicholas Wolterstorff’s calm, careful, humble response to my posts might make me look like an overly pugilistic polemicist. But I think he’s just from a different school of pugilism. (As a Canadian and long-time hockey player, I think pugilism is a great way to spend a Friday night, with beers afterward.) Wolterstorff is a careful student of the 'bob and weave' school of philosophical polemics, turning ill-advised haymakers into merely glancing blows. I, on the other hand, tend to be a student of the George Foreman school of philosophical polemics (and frequent user of his grills to boot!): I’m easily sucked in by rope-a-dopes. Why stop now?” View this full post.

Also new at The Immanent Frame
Nicholas Wolterstorff: “Secular accounts: A response to Chambers”
John D. Boy: “The fanantical counterpublic”

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