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The Cult of Reason

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Re: The Cult of Reason

#11

Post by jlpom »

opaque wrote: post #7
stared wrote: post #3

I though it will be about Less Wrong. (Discussion with a friend, who identifies with the crowd: "Is it a cult? Yes, but a good one!")

There was also an "atheist church" in London https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21319945 I wonder if they were aware the concept has quite a history.

From the article:

> It's a nice excuse to get together and have a bit of a community spirit but without the religion aspect

> It's not a church, it's a congregation of unreligious people.

Seems more a gathering of same-minded persons than a real cult.

Re: The Cult of Reason

#12

Post by desdiv »

enqk wrote: post #8
NikolaeVarius wrote: post #4

It is interesting in the footnotes that it indicates the name originally doens't have the negative connotations it seems to have in english ``` The word "cult" in French means "a form of worship", without any of its negative or exclusivist implications in English; its proponents intended it to be a universal congregation. ```

"Culte" is neutral and "Secte" is the negative word.

Wouldn't "the Sect of Reason" be a much better English translation then?

"Culte" in French and "sect" in English are neutral.

"Secte" in French and "cult" in English have negative connotations.

Re: The Cult of Reason

#13

Post by otakucode »

It seems profoundly weird to me, though this might just be due to not understanding the sociology of the time and place, to actively attempt to force a belief in reason through coercion. It seems self-defeating. I can understand a longing for reason to spread and gain acceptance... but to conclude that this desire justifies overriding the individual thinkers freedom to decide for themselves would be an unsupportable argument. The furthest I could see going would be to forbid indoctrination of the youth in unreasoned ideologies since children have limited ability to challenge what they are being taught (at least they did at the time). But if you are 'persuading' people to believe in ideas which claim objective, reasoned basis through abandoning reasoning with them and resorting to force, it would be right for all to reject you as a hypocrite.

Re: The Cult of Reason

#15

Post by enqk »

desdiv wrote: post #12
enqk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Culte" is neutral and "Secte" is the negative word.

Wouldn't "the Sect of Reason" be a much better English translation then? "Culte" in French and "sect" in English are neutral. "Secte" in French and "cult" in English have negative connotations.

I briefly considered it, however "Sect" does suggest (from its root) that it's an offshoot of some larger religion, which isn't the case here.

Re: The Cult of Reason

#17

Post by throwawaymath »

yters wrote: post #14

"A madman is not someone who has lost his reason but someone who has lost everything but his reason." - GK Chesterton

What's the context of this quote? When I search it on Google one of the front page results is actually this HN comment. It's hard to find more information about GK Chesterton's broader point.

Re: The Cult of Reason

#18

Post by throwawaymath »

jlpom wrote: post #11
opaque wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was also an "atheist church" in London https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21319945 I wonder if they were aware the concept has quite a history.

From the article: > It's a nice excuse to get together and have a bit of a community spirit but without the religion aspect > It's not a church, it's a congregation of unreligious people. Seems more a gathering of same-minded persons than a real cult.

What's the jumping off point at which a gathering of like-minded people becomes a cult? Can "cult" be used to describe religious groups (or very zealous factional groups) without the pejorative connotations of the colloquial term? Or is "cult" basically a universally negative appellation?

Re: The Cult of Reason

#19

Post by reitanqild »

throwawaymath wrote: post #17
yters wrote: post #14

"A madman is not someone who has lost his reason but someone who has lost everything but his reason." - GK Chesterton

What's the context of this quote? When I search it on Google one of the front page results is actually this HN comment. It's hard to find more information about GK Chesterton's broader point.

I guess Chestertons broader point is that avoiding feelings, existing culture etc gives very bad results, exactly like what happened during the French Revolution.

Edit: misread the question originally, though it asked about the reason for including it here. Rewrote it to answer the actual question.

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