Philosophical ambition and messiness outweigh polished but shallow philosophizing

Evidence

Even when existentialists reached too far, wrote too much, revised too little, made grandiose claims, or otherwise disgraced themselves, it must be said that they remained in touch with the density of life, and that they asked the important questions. Give me that any day, and keep the tasteful miniatures for the mantelpiece. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 912

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A genuine preference statement about how to live and think: prefer the messy real to the tasteful miniature.
• XREF: connects to: Philosophical style itself can be judged unfree and dictatorial — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 609; Good intentions do not guarantee good philosophical outcomes; High ambition creates creative block while low standards enable writing. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 80 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Marx’s revolutionary theory sometimes collapsed into overwrought polemic stylistically #exemplifies (0.90) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 976
• Philosophical style itself can be judged unfree and dictatorial #expands (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 609
• Weaker logic produces more interesting philosophical consequences. #corroborates (0.82) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2705
• High ambition creates creative block while low standards enable writing. #complicates (0.80) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 80
• Good intentions do not guarantee good philosophical outcomes #complicates (0.72)