Concord, Massachusetts, in the 1840s
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nRalph Waldo Emerson<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I strongly agree with Emerson on this point, and have held the same opinion since long before I noticed what he had to say about it. \u00a0Candidly, it\u2019s sneering cynics \u2014 they exist everywhere, I suppose, but I personally encounter them most often in a particular\u00a0strain of (typically secular apostate) anti-Mormonism (most recently in certain\u00a0reactions to the General Authority stipend \u201cscandal\u201d) \u2014 who seem to illustrate the principle most clearly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t help but think of Lord Darlington\u2019s definition of a cynic, in Oscar Wilde\u2019s comedy\u00a0Lady Windemere\u2019s Fan<\/em>,\u00a0as \u201ca man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I love Switzerland. \u00a0But I can\u2019t count the number of times when some cynical Swiss or other, referring to religious faith and churches, would move\u00a0his thumb back and forth against the opposing fingers of the same hand as if manipulating coins or bills and say, with a knowing smirk, Alles geht um das <\/span><\/em>(\u201cIt\u2019s all about that\u201d) or\u00a0Alles geht um das Geld<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cIt\u2019s all about money\u201d). \u00a0The remark always seemed to me more likely an unwitting confession than an accurate\u00a0description of others.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an odd way, too, I\u2019m reminded of the great Edmund Burke\u2019s reaction, in his Reflections on the Revolution in France<\/em>, to the news of the death of Queen Marie Antoinette on the guillotine. \u00a0Although a member of Parliament, he had been sympathetic to the grievances of the American colonists and strongly opposed to British attempts to put down the Revolution by force. \u00a0But the French Revolution, in his judgment, was a very different thing:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever. Never, never more shall we behold the generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart, which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the members of my doctoral committee \u2014 I must say that I found him deeply\u00a0impressive and that I wouldn\u2019t actually consider him<\/em> a cynic \u2014 was a prodigiously learned historian of the pre-modern Near East who, while not a Marxist, took a determinedly\u00a0economic view of everything he studied. \u00a0Which, since he\u00a0specialized in Islam and its Middle Eastern religious antecedents, seemed to me a very serious defect. \u00a0I actually credit Marxist and other modern historians (including those of the rather anti-Marxist Annales<\/em> school) with bringing long overdue attention to economic and social factors that had previously been neglected. \u00a0But the emphasis can and often does go too far. \u00a0It can become a crude reductionism. \u00a0My professor wasn\u2019t by any stretch of the imagination \u201ccrude.\u201d \u00a0He was brilliant and insightful. \u00a0But, in what always seemed to me a case of strange blindness, he was apparently unable to believe\u00a0that any historical actor ever really did anything for non-economic reasons.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
At one point, we clashed over a draft-chapter of my dissertation in which I described\u00a0an event in seventh-century Iraq as an expression of a proto-Shi\u2018ite religious sensibility. \u00a0No, he said, it was a fiscal protest against early Umayyad tax policies. \u00a0I responded that it was an act motivated by devotion to the family of the Prophet, and that the hundreds of men involved in it \u2014 ordinary townsmen and farmers \u2014 went, as they surely knew they were going, to absolutely certain death at the hands of a professional army about fifteen times the size of their group. \u00a0How could they possibly have hoped that doing so would better their financial situation?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was resolute. \u00a0There was always, he said, an economic angle. \u00a0People always act in their own self-interest. \u00a0I argued that I myself, though I hardly considered myself a spiritual exemplar, routinely spent time and money and effort out of religious motivation\u00a0in ways that not only didn\u2019t advance my economic interests but regularly and predictably cost<\/em> me, in temporal terms. \u00a0And that I knew literally hundreds of people, and associated with many of them every Sunday, who did precisely the same thing. \u00a0Regularly. \u00a0Routinely.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He insisted nonetheless that he wouldn\u2019t approve that chapter of my dissertation until I acknowledged\u00a0the event in question as a fiscal protest. \u00a0I refused. \u00a0We were at an impasse until my wife\u2019s insistence that I get the darned thing done and move on finally impelled\u00a0me to make a change. \u00a0The main text of my dissertation now features precisely the description that he wanted, accompanied by a footnote explaining that the description given in the main text was incorrect and had been written under duress. \u00a0That proved, amazingly enough, to be an acceptable compromise, and he signed.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson \u00a0 I strongly agree with Emerson on this point, and have held the same opinion since long before I noticed what he had to say about it. \u00a0Candidly, it\u2019s sneering cynics \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-14T17:40:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-14T17:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/01\/Central_part_of_Concord_Mass-1024x620.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html\",\"name\":\"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-14T17:40:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-14T17:40:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing","description":" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing","og_description":" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2017-01-14T17:40:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-14T17:40:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/01\/Central_part_of_Concord_Mass-1024x620.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html","name":"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-14T17:40:09+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-14T17:40:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson I strongly agree","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/knowing-price-everything-value-nothing.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"An](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/01\/Central_part_of_Concord_Mass.jpg\")
<\/a>