It's a standard academic sleight of hand to win an argument by misrepresenting your opponents position. Professor David Steinberg applies this maneuver in his recent piece on Myanmar A foolish consistency (Asia Times Online, August 13, 2011). Steinberg borrows a famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote in Self Reliance that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines," yet never admits to his own propensity for foolish consistency.
Read Full Article »
