Klarinet Archive - Posting 000141.txt from 2005/11

From: or3mondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: RE: [kl] Conversion
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 11:59:36 -0500

Dan wrote:

> Since it is entirely impossible to know with
> certainty what Mahler's mindset was at the
> time of his conversion, then we must assume,
> because of the gravity of the act, that he
> converted for religious reasons.

I don't object to 'driving a nail' into the threat of a prejudice. Not
at all.

But if logic is to be our guideline, and if we don't know the answer,
then we should not assume the answer. We should say that there is no
sound basis for a conclusion.

Unwarranted assumptions are not the definition of "prejudice" --- a flaw
in logic can be a mistake rather than a prejudice --- but many
prejudices cannot exist without an unwarranted assumption. Thus
unwarranted assumptions are especially slippery slopes when discussing
prejudice itself.

We can say that VPO's performance of Mahler's "Titan" suggests some
questions which eventually lead us to unresolvable questions about
Mahler's religion.

....and if logic is to be our guideline, an inevitable (and
unresolvable) question is:

Would VPO bless and support a *women-only* branch of their orchestra
which also pays the highest salaries, precisely because such an
orchestra could produce a different music which the men-only orchestra
cannot produce? Or would they claim that such an orchestra could
produce only inferior music?

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