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Post by stuyoung on Oct 5, 2010 16:13:26 GMT
Question for the Sherlock Holmes fans out there. Do you feel that Sherlock Homes lived up to his arch-rationalist image or did Conan Doyle's own beliefs in spiritualism colour the stories, making some of them rather far-fetched and possibly even a veiled critique of the limitations of a purely rational approach to crime-solving and life in general?
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 5, 2010 17:06:01 GMT
I've read a few, but wouldn't go as far as to say I am a huge fan. However, I'm not aware of Doyle's spiritualist beliefs colouring any of the Holmes stories - quite the opposite, I think most people find it very surprising that they were written by someone who believed in the stuff that Doyle did (and let's not forget the Cottingley fairies). On the other hand, non-believers can write great supernatural stories - so why not have the opposite case too? Having said that, not involving the supernatural doesn't stop some of Holmes' cases being rather far-fetched - I am thinking mostly of the one where the guy taking "monkey glands" starts acting like a monkey (and Doyle was an MD too, so there's no excuse).
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 5, 2010 19:42:37 GMT
Question for the Sherlock Holmes fans out there. Do you feel that Sherlock Homes lived up to his arch-rationalist image or did Conan Doyle's own beliefs in spiritualism colour the stories, making some of them rather far-fetched and possibly even a veiled critique of the limitations of a purely rational approach to crime-solving and life in general? I am sure Conan Doyle himself saw his interest in spiritualism and fairies as entirely rationally grounded. In fact, I think very few people would be willing to admit, even to themselves, that they hold irrational beliefs. (With the exception of some hardcore theologians---such as Tertullian, who shamelessly proclaimed that it was the very absurdity of Christian doctrine that made it persuasive.)
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Post by stuyoung on Oct 6, 2010 8:03:45 GMT
Dr Strange -- Some of the Holmes stories were a bit daft, weren't they? The non-rationalist thing was brought up by a non-Holmes fan and although I didn't agree with him it's a while since I'd read the stories (and I never really remembered the later ones anyway) so I thought it might be interesting to see if anyone else had spotted anything that agreed with his take on the stories.
Jojo -- Good point. I hadn't thought of that.
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Post by stuyoung on Oct 6, 2010 9:10:28 GMT
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 6, 2010 16:33:01 GMT
Very interesting film, thanks!
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