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Gerald Fnord's avatar

I do believe that I can never _fully_ understand the lived experience of, say, a black American in Minneapolis, or that of the woman I love…but, fortunately, I do not have to do so in order to act decently.

I think practical embrace of the less-than-absolute is what is in order. I feel honest saying, for example, that I can not _fully_ understand the lived experience of a lesbian Latina-American woman, but I should have enough common experience, enough analogous experience, and enough imaginative wit to bridge the gaps well enough that I can see where we have common concerns, e.g. not letting the country fall into the hands of 'Christian' authoritarians, and work with her toward them.

[EDIT: one 'works toward' goals, not concerns—maybe '[…]work with her for the sake of what we can agree were best.'?]

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Robert Ley's avatar

The reduction is too simplistic, but think of "experiential knowledge" and it's claims as emotion and "propositional knowledge" as fact. We can work together on facts. Working with, and particularly deferring to, what I "feel" is doomed to failure, as Mounk points out so nicely, and as tRumpism illustrates so beautifully. GREAT piece, thanks.

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