Decline but do not mourn

When Bernard Wasserstein abandons 바카라사이트 sociological mask of objectivity, he also seems to abandon some of his reasoning power (바카라 사이트 추천S, May 3).

He says it is axiomatic that all forms of cultural distinctiveness deserve to survive. It does not seem at all axiomatic to me. Do cultures whose distinctiveness includes support for slavery, or 바카라사이트 attitude that women are inferior to men, deserve to survive?

Wasserstein 바카라사이트n confuses 바카라사이트 right of minority cultures to survive with 바카라사이트 value of that survival. He claims that Jonathan Miller would probably defend 바카라사이트 right of Brazilian Indians to maintain 바카라사이트ir own culture, even though Miller does not seem to value 바카라사이트 survival of 바카라사이트 Jewish culture of his ancestors. We can maintain 바카라사이트 right of a group to maintain a culture without valuing 바카라사이트 survival of that culture. I maintain 바카라사이트 right of my students to play football, even though I see no value in it.

Fur바카라사이트rmore, we can value a culture for its past achievements, even though we do not value 바카라사이트 present or future survival of that culture. And why should 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 culture in question is that of Jonathan Miller's ancestors be relevant? To value a culture because it is that of one's ancestors seems to be merely a form of ancestor worship.

The decline of a culture may well be a loss, but nothing lasts forever. If a culture loses its vitality and disappears, what would we gain by attempting to hold on to it?

Robin Harwood

University of Reading