|
View the h-holocaust Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in h-holocaust's October 1997 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in h-holocaust's October 1997 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the h-holocaust home page.
Of Finkelstein's attack on Goldhagen, Kenneth Kronenberg writes: "I think we need to separate the core message from the ideological apparatus of the messenger." May I ask respectfully just how we are to do that? An ideology is a system of propositions, while a "message" is merely one of these propositions considered in isolation from the rest. To evaluate it adequately, it must be understood in relation to the whole system of which it is a constitutive-even, to use Kronenberg's term, the core-part. Kronenberg goes on to suggest that "pressuring Holt not to publish" [Finkelstein's book] will push us down the slippery slope. "Once you do that," he warns darkly, "anything goes." Anything? Even concentration camps? The sort of hysteria indulged in by Mr Kronenberg is what puts a quick stop to careful thought. I have said it many times before and I will say it again: censorship requires a monopoly of force. Lacking a monopoly of force, individuals may seek to restrict access to materials to which they object without endangering freedom of expression one whit. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> D. G. Myers Department of English Texas A&M University dgmyers@tamu.edu
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
|