Heretics, Democracy, the Beyond

Kuangming Wu

Rosebush Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ojpp.2014.43039                

Abstract

This short essay first describes (in Part One) what the heretics are, pesky yet needed provocation from outside our “right” orthodoxy, and then details (in Part Two) the heretics in sections from A through I, which joyously ties up the entire survey of the heretics invincible, soaring cosmically beyond. Protesting heretics take hold of their criticizing selves, to invite us all to self-criticize, and so they are resented by the orthodox already right. Heretics are idios, lone “idiotic” and independent, to resolve two paradoxes of democracy. Many factual examples are cited, recent and historical, USA and abroad, to show how essential the brave heretics are, risking their lives to jolt afresh the orthodox status quo, to go beyond it. Heretics have their sociality; self-critical, they never err. Thus, heretics provoke us to go beyond us, going-beyond is living, and so heretics provoke us alive homo-cosmic.

Keywords

Heretics, Democracy, The Beyond, Orthodoxy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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