This week I read an excerpt of Stages Along Life’s Way, and I am baffled. The excerpt opens with several pages of reflection on the difference between memory and recollection and concludes with the author saying that he wants to recollect a dinner party he attended.
The second part recollects the dinner party and is dominated by a long-winded speech about the vapid nature of women and fashion.
The third part, a concluding note to the reader, talks about the relationship between sophistry1 and religion. He asserts there are three kinds of sophists and talks about each of them briefly. He ends with a couple paragraphs on the beauty and adequacy of the Danish language.
I absolutely do not get it. I will go to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and see if it sheds any light, and then I’ll re-read it.
The use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving. This definition found by googling the word sophistry.