Abstract
Discussing anything related to intellectual rubbish, to the intellectual standards that it falls short of, involves emotional charge. It is one thing to refuse to share tastes with my neighbors, and hard enough and alienating enough at that. To declare intellectual rubbish what they appreciate is much worse. Admittedly, I may try to escape trouble: I may try to find out what are their tastes, and avoid talking about intellectual rubbish except in the company of those whose tastes I share. This will not do. First, word goes round. Second, if two people agree about one thing and then their conversation shifts to talk about another, they may then find unexpected strong discrepancies. Finding in our cultural milieu more rubbish than things of value is common. This makes it hardly possible for anyone to express freely opinions about tastes without the fear of offending.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Joseph Agassi
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Agassi, J. (2003). The Functions of Intellectual Rubbish. In: Science and Culture. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 231. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2946-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2946-8_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6234-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2946-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive