What a second hander is.

Posted by jmlesniewski 11 years, 2 months ago to Philosophy
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"A [second-hander] is one who regards the consciousness of other men as superior to his own and to the facts of reality. It is to a [second-hander] that the moral appraisal of himself by others is a primary concern which supersedes truth, facts, reason, logic. The disapproval of others is so shatteringly terrifying to him that nothing can withstand its impact within his consciousness; thus he would deny the evidence of his own eyes and invalidate his own consciousness for the sake of any stray charlatan’s moral sanction. It is only a [second-hander] who could conceive of such absurdity as hoping to win an intellectual argument by hinting: 'But people won’t like you!'"

(From the Virtue of Selfishness)


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  • Posted by mminnick 7 years, 4 months ago
    Run with the sheep (crowd) and sooner or later you get sheared. Run as a lone sheep and sooner or later you'll be caught.
    Run as a wolf and no one bothers you.
    (Bad analogy, but I think the pint is clear.)
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