Thursday, March 26, 2009

What's in a name, anyway?

Yesterday, I posted about name calling in academia. Jim West took issue with name-calling being bad. He was clear that he is not attacking me, and I don't feel attacked. But, in the interest of clarifying what Efraín Velázquez was getting at, here is a later snippet:

The current debate and so-called crisis in historiographical studies has served to mature both disciplines. As long as the debate does not degenerate into isolation and fragmentation, one must continue listening to provocative proposals and maturing solid arguments. On the other hand, accusations such as “myth holders” or “mythographers” do not serve to advance our disciplines.—Efraín Velázquez in Critical Issues in Early Israelite History, page 75

<idle musing>
It seems clear that the name calling is not what he was concerned about as much as whether or not people are really listening...
</idle musing>

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