An art historian interviewed on the radio this morning described himself as A Contrarian. He explained the process: whatever anyone postulates as a theory, he takes a directly opposite standpoint. Note that no insight or understanding precedes the standpoint. The standpoint is taken and then an argument is contrasted so as to oppose, to the maximum, the theory concerned.
Nothing new here then, except the confession. There was a time when people practiced Contrarianism but did recognise that it was bad practice and so hid the fact that they were doing it. Nevertheless, from at least Ancient Greek times when e.g. Demosthenes theorised that everything was made of atoms and the next guy came along and said “Oh no, it isn’t! Everything is continuous and undifferentiated.”, philosophers, scientists and their ilk have used contrariness as a means of manufacturing alternative theories. The art historians are merely using the methods already well honed by philosophers.
Philosophers have retreated from actually trying to answer any questions to a position of saying that it is not the answer that is important but the question. Indeed they have retreated even further, taking up the position that it is the practice of philosophical thinking that is important, not questions or answers…….sigh………I mean, what IS the point?!! If you adopt a method of thinking that gets you nowhere, would it not be sensible to question the value and effectiveness of that mode of thinking?
If you invented square wheels on the basis that everyone else’s wheels were round, but then found that your bike and car and cart would not actually move, would you not question the value of your invention? A sensible person would. People of our world do not.
Philosophy has failed. Its methods are wrong. I really can hardly believe that I am having to try and explain here why Contrarianism is wrong, but I know only too well that the responses I will get on this site will reveal that people do not understand why Contrarianism is wrong!!! Everyone who has experienced contrariness KNOWS that it is wrong, KNOWS that contrariness is used by people who want to make things as difficult as possible for somebody else. Note: it is NOT used to gain new insights or understanding; it IS used to create as much difficulty as possible for the targeted person.
It used to be the case that every mother or nanny knew that contrariness was wrong and would reprimand any child that showed this undesirable trait. The only reason philosophers of the past got away with it was because they disguised it so well. But now things have got so bad that disguise is no longer deemed necessary because people are no longer aware that contrariness is counter-productive.
So our art historian, in shamelessly, even proudly, proclaiming his Contrarianism, is displaying how very far humanity has fallen and his failure to learn from mistakes of philosophers.