Hugur - 01.06.2008, Page 114

112
Ólafur PállJónsson
ist gagnrýni hennar og sköpunarmáttur að henni sjálfri sem siðferðilegri
veru ekki síður en ytri viðfangsefnum, (iv) hún er fær um að taka virkan
þátt í gagnrýnu rökræðusamfélagi - rannsóknarsamfélagi og (v) hún ber
ríkulegt skynbragð á umhverfi sitt.
Hin gagnrýna manneskja í þessum skilningi er ekki síður skapandi manneskja.
Og sköpunarmátturinn birtist ekki í listrænni sköpun einstakra verka, heldur í því
hversdagslega verkefni að vera manneskja.*3
Abstract
Critical Persons
One of the most famous descriptions of a critical person is Descartes’ description
at the beginning of Meditations on First Philosophy. The task that Descartes takes
on is to accept no belief or statement unless what it says has first been scrutinized
and supported by sound reasoning. The paradigm image of the critical person,
in this respect, is Rodin’s thinker, the man who sits in deep thought, free from
hastiness and prejudice and who subjects all his views to the judgment of reason.
I argue that this image of the critical person is too narrow, lacking both practical,
social, ethical and aesthetic dimensions. The critical person is not just a thinking
being, she is also an active being, she forms relations to other critical persons,
she is morally responsible and is acutely aware of a variety of qualities of her
surrounding environment.
23 Grein þessi á rætur að rekja til fyrirlestrar um gagnrýna hugsun sem Res Extensa stóð fyrir 10.
mars 2007.