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Post by Azaziel on Jun 26, 2010 11:59:09 GMT 10
So, Philip, would I be right in concluding that Dr James is more an historian( and I suspect a very dry one at that), then delving into even a slighty esoteric bent, where his major academic strength probably wouldn't allow him to speculate on multiple meanings.
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Post by Tamrin on Jun 26, 2010 13:47:50 GMT 10
Dr. James is an historian by qualification. As stated, I get mixed messages regarding his opinions (even as to his being an historian!?). Esoterically, he has at least demonstrated an appreciative interest in Sacred Geometry.
As Dr. James appears to have withdrawn from this dialogue, I suggest we respect his silence and conduct any further correspondence on the topic without particular reference to him. BTW, I am speaking here in my capacity as an ordinary member (Tamrin) and am not making a ruling in my capacity as forum administrator (Solomon).
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Post by Tamrin on Jul 9, 2010 7:11:37 GMT 10
any organisation (club, society, corporation, political party, etc, etc) which chooses not to learn from its past will inevitably fail. Once its history becomes the most appealing aspect of a group, that history soon becomes its epitaph For Masonry the truth lies somewhere between these slogans.I object to teaching of slogans intended to befog the mind, of whatever kind they may be
Franz Boas (Born this day 1858)
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Post by Tamrin on Jul 9, 2010 7:14:04 GMT 10
Historical methodology, as I see it, is a product of common sense applied to circumstances
Any child knows that history can only be a reduced representation of reality, but it must be a true one, not distorted by queer lenses
Yet enthusiasm is no excuse for the historian going off balance. He should remind the reader that outcomes were neither inevitable nor foreordained, but subject to a thousand changes and chances
Intellectual honesty is the quality that the public in free countries always has expected of historians; much more than that it does not expect, nor often get
Too rigid specialization is almost as bad for an historian's mind, and for his ultimate reputation, as too early an indulgence in broad generalization and synthesis
Skepticism is an important historical tool. It is the starting point of all revision of hitherto accepted history
The historian decides what is significant, and what is notSamuel Eliot Morison(Born this day 1887) If a lecturer, he wishes to be heard; if a writer, to be read. He always hopes for a public beyond that of the long-suffering wife
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