From ALEX BOLLINGER, “George Santos Boils In Rage After He Was Tricked Into Celebrating Pedophilia,” APRIL 25 2024, in CityWatch.
“LGBTQ – Disgraced former Congressman George Santos (R-NY) is willing to say anything to make a buck. He even made a video celebrating NAMBLA, the National Man/Boy Love Association, an organization that promoted pedophilia in the U.S.
…
When he was called out on social media for supporting the harmful group, he was outraged… at the woman who pointed it out.
…
Santos replied to Carducci, saying that he thought he was making a video for a person named “Nambla.” But instead of just admitting his mistake, he lashed out at Carducci with misogynist invective.”
The news story opens up what can be a philosophical definition of “Stupidity”. A politician dismissing “blame” via the dismissal he-she-it-they was ignorant. This does not work as an apologetic tactic. The Oxford definition:
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
stupidity
/stjuːˈpɪdɪti,stjʊˈpɪdɪti/
noun
behaviour that shows a lack of good sense or judgement.
“I can’t believe my own stupidity”
Similar:
lack of intelligence
unintelligence
foolishness
denseness
brainlessness
ignorance
mindlessness
dull-wittedness
dull-headedness
dullness
slow-wittedness
doltishness
slowness
vacancy
gullibility
naivety
thickness
dimness
dumbness
dopiness
doziness
craziness
folly
silliness
idiocy
senselessness
irresponsibility
injudiciousness
ineptitude
inaneness
inanity
irrationality
absurdity
ludicrousness
ridiculousness
fatuousness
fatuity
asininity
pointlessness
meaninglessness
futility
fruitlessness
madness
insanity
lunacy
daftness
Opposite:
genius
sagacity
the quality of being stupid or unintelligent.
“a comedy of infantile stupidity”
Wikipedia says, “Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit, an inability to learn. It may be innate, assumed or reactive.”
When I use “Stupidity” in my work, I am particularly using the semantics of ‘a lack of intelligence’, the ‘inability to learn’, and the model of reactionary thinking (‘reactive’). This is why pleading ignorance does not save anyone from a charge of stupidity. It is not the synonym “ignorance” which is on display, but
- a lack of intelligence’;
- the ‘an inability to learn’; and
- the model of reactionary thinking (‘reactive’).
REFERENCE
Alvesson, M., & Einola, K. (2018). Excessive work regimes and functional stupidity. German Journal of Human Resource Management / Zeitschrift Für Personalforschung, 32(3/4), 283–296. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26905591
Bennington, G. (2011). A Moment of Madness: Derrida’s Kierkegaard. Oxford Literary Review, 33(1), 103–127. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44030838
Brunsson, K. (2020). Effective or Stupid? – A Note on the Organizational Economy. Management Revue, 31(1), 92–109. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26996603
Carrier, D. (1998). The Pleasures of Stupidity: Gary Larson as a Baudelairean Caricaturist. Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 27(1/2), 62–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23537558
Dillet, B. (2013). What Is Called Thinking?: When Deleuze Walks along Heideggerian Paths. Deleuze Studies, 7(2), 250–274. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45331542
Feyaerts, K., & Brône, G. (2005). Expressivity and Metonymic Inferencing: Stylistic Variation in Nonliterary Language Use. Style, 39(1), 12–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.39.1.12
Hall, R. B. (2009). The New Alliance Between the Mob and Capital (and the State). St Antony’s International Review, 5(1), 11–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26227136
Heldke, L. (2006). Farming Made Her Stupid. Hypatia, 21(3), 151–165. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3810956
Hutchings, K. (2018). War and moral stupidity. Review of International Studies, 44(1), 83–100. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26619466
Massey, H. (2011). When Are We When We Think? Arendt’s Temporal Interpretation of Thinking and Thoughtlessness. Philosophical Topics, 39(2), 71–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43154605
Penteado, B. (2015). The Epistemology of the Parrot. Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 43(3/4), 144–157. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44122722
Polachan, W. (2014). Buddhism and Thai Comic Performance. Asian Theatre Journal, 31(2), 439–456. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43187435
Robertson, D. G. (2015). Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Alternative and Emergent Religions. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 19(2), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2015.19.2.5
Saxton, A. (2009). The God Debates and the Materialist Interpretation of History. Science & Society, 73(4), 474–497. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40404591
Segall, S. (2010). Is Health (Really) Special? Health Policy between Rawlsian and Luck Egalitarian Justice. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 27(4), 344–358. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24356088
Zins, D. L. (1986). Rescuing Science from Technocracy: “Cat’s Cradle” and the Play of Apocalypse (Sauver la science de la technocracie: “Le berceau du chat” et le Jeu de l’Apocalypse). Science Fiction Studies, 13(2), 170–181. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4239744
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Perspectives Of Mind
Neville Buch
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