Do we have an attack on fanaticism?
The argument in a nutshell: (1) fanaticism feeds on “justificationism”, that is the assumption that everything depends on “justified true beliefs” that are revealed or supported by the correct authority; (2) The CR critique of justificationism provides what Richard Hamming called an “attack” on the theories, traditions and practices that feed fanaticism.
Elsewhere I have talked about this in the language of “draining the swamp of unreason”.
This article shows how the little-known work of William W. Bartley has the potential to vastly increase the effectiveness of skeptical resistance to superstition and prejudice in their many forms and varieties. Creative problem solving and imaginative criticism is straitjacketed by the dogmatic ‘true belief’ framework of Western thought. This framework generates on the one hand true believers who insist that they have the truth in their grasp, on the other hand relativists and nihilists who think that truth and falsehood are indistinguishable. The framework can be cracked with the aid of ideas from Karl Popper and William W. Bartley to create an intellectual environment where imaginative criticism and the pursuit of knowledge will flourish. In this environment the swamp of unreason and prejudice may be drained, instead of merely being held back in one place while it spreads elsewhere.
