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"The multitude of books is making us ignorant"
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers"
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Voltaire stood proudly for the open debate of ideas. Iconoclastic until his death, he relentlessly attacked the state,
the church and the aristocracy, all with wit and flair. Many commentators today have lamented the absence of the
public debate of ideas.
Surveying the landscape of contemporary public discourse, what would Voltaire say?
Once our leaders were men and women of
ideas.
Today they are purveyors of cheap
rhetoric. Once our conversations were about
changing
the world. Today we are subject to drivel about public
personalities. Once we wrote and argued to
create a
better
future. Today we are content to borrow against it.
Is this assessment too bleak & cynical, or does it contain a grain of truth?
Salon Voltaire is delighted to present Voltaire's Challenge. The twin goals are to increase participation in
public
intellectualism, and to provoke debate about how we engage with ideas in contemporary society.
This season's theme is Mass Communication and
Public Discourse. Choose one of the topics below, or feel free to write
on a topic of your choosing (so long as it
fits with this season's theme).
- We have more methods of communication than ever before, but something is missing in our public discourse. What is
the current state of public discourse and how can we improve it?
- Modern technology, specifically the internet,
connects more people than ever
before. How can we
harness the internet and/or other modern
technologies to promote rather than hinder
intelligent
debate?
Submit your answer (3000 words or less) by email to
colin@salon-voltaire.com by December 15, 2007.
Answers will be judged for clarity, originality
and quality of argument. The winner will receive $1000 and be invited to speak during our 2007 fall series.
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