Episode 67: Intro to Walt Whitman's Thinking & Writing
Continuing in the thread of 19th century liberals and why we love them, this episode considers "Song of Myself" and a couple of shorter poems by Whitman. Is he a very modern, post-Christian, sexually-depraved degenerate? Probably yes to all those. Do we still love his poetry?--yes!--even though it doesn't rhyme?--still, I think yes! There's never been a more anti-nationalist writer than Whitman, unless you count Anacharsis Cloots, but at the same time, Whitman is the most American-American ever... so, what's going on there? Can we salvage any of this? Here's my take: we DO want some serious emphasis on the esoteric elements of religion. Religion is not merely a language that we use to organize society. It is also the gateway to the other dimension of thought, to the twilight zone -- and this gateway cannot be inherited genetically, and it cannot be forcibly inculcated by a doctrine. Instead, one has to discover it for himself. And once he does, he is now qualified as what William James would call "the twice born," which means he is no longer LIKE all the other people -- including the people he has known for his whole life! He's a new man! Born again! And he will THEN go on to seek others who have experienced this second birth. He will identify with his fellow-twice-born even more than he did with his blood-ties. Can we imagine a society of the twice-born? Can such a society avoid ossifying?