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IN_SUM

                                         January 24, 2010

I find that the
difficulty of                      A typical book review of any
accurately                         given intellectual's work is
summarizing                        almost invariably an exercise
statments                          in creative reading-- the
attributed to                      author of the review needs a
intellectuals                      simple position to write
argues against                     about, and invents one if
doing it at all.                   necessary, ignoring large
                                   chunks of the work that is
                                   supposed to be under review.

  It may be better to ask:                   It's considered bad form for
  what are the possible                      the target to object to this
  logical positions that                     treatment, and who else is
  might be taken, and where                  going to care, really?
  do they lead?

  Instead of worrying about pinning
  down an intellectual's precise
  beliefs, it's better to sketch out
  the field of possible beliefs.

      INTO_THE_STRAW         Surveying actual
                             intellectuals is
                             a useful exercise
                             to make sure you're
                             not missing
                             possible chains
                             of reasoning.

                                 But it's not like any of
                                 them are going to be The
                                 One who has come up with
                                 The Answer.

                                    Even a Good Point
                                    often seems rare.


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