John C. Wright on Borges & Wolfe

Gwern Branwen · 19 Apr 2010, 23:42 · from 2010-April.txt.gz

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From: gwern0 at gmail.com (Gwern Branwen)
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:42:31 -0400
Subject: (urth) John C. Wright on Borges & Wolfe
Message-ID: <l2mcbf55b101004191642pfc333a8di19059c51be3519ca at mail.gmail.com>

http://johncwright.livejournal.com/331497.html

Connects 3 Borges story to TBOTNS. I don't think the connections will
be much controversial.

(I do disagree with his theory of Borges as a parodist of non-theistic
philosophy; that he sees Borges that way says more about Wright than
Borges. Borges can't believe in the Christian God because, as he says
in the introduction to _Book of Imaginary Beings_, the Trinity is more
fantastic an imagining than any he could devise.
To know theology is not to believe:  "He [Omar Khayyam] is an atheist,
but knows how to interpret in orthodox style the most difficult
passages of the Koran; for every educated man is a theologian and
faith is not a requisite.")

-- 
gwern

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