7-12-89 Wednesday. As a philosopher and wordsmith, I love the rhetoric of the abortion debate. Those who advocate legal restrictions on abortion refer to themselves as the “pro-life” lobby, while those who advocate legally permissible abortions (a legal right to an abortion) refer to themselves as the “pro-choice” lobby. Both sides apparently want the prefix “pro-” in their name, and it’s not hard to see why. Nobody likes negative people. We prefer to think of the good rather than the bad, to see progress rather than regress, to be in favor of something rather than against it. That’s why we despise and shun critical, cynical, and sarcastic people; they’re too “negative” for us. These feelings are as strong in the abortion context as in any other, which explains the terminology. Rhetorically speaking, there must be an “anti-” for every “pro-”, so (1) the opponents of the “pro-lifers” must be “anti-life” and (2) the opponents of the “pro-choicers” must be “anti-choice”. How awful, to be opposed to life or choice! Logically speaking, of course, one can be “pro-choice” without being “anti-life”, just as one can be “pro-life” without being “anti-choice”. But who cares about logic when it comes to an issue as emotionally charged as abortion? I get the feeling that victory, at whatever cost, is more important to these people than principled argument. The disputants are more concerned with persuading than with how they persuade, which, to a philosopher, is unfortunate.
Speaking of names, there has been a bitter debate in nearby Bryan over the name of a new high school. As I reconstruct the events of the past few weeks, two proposals were made: Mary Branch High School (after a black female educator) and William Barret Travis High School (after a Texan who died at the Alamo during the War with México). One of the school-board members, thinking that criticism of Travis would bolster support for Branch, dredged up some unsavory details of his life, such as that he abandoned his family to move to Texas and owned slaves. This brought Travis defenders out of the woodwork. Some have demanded an apology from the board member; others say that the only way to “salvage” Travis’s reputation as a Texas hero is to name the school for him. If you read the letters to the local newspaper and watch the local news, as I do, you get the feeling that all hell has broken loose. Everyone is angry at someone. It now appears that there has been a compromise. A respected member of the board, Travis Bryan, proposed that the high school be named for Branch and the administration building for Travis. The vote was 7-0 for the proposal, so perhaps the furor will subside. What gets me is the excitability of Texans. They jumped to defend their “heroes”, such as they are. Then again, Southern honor was at stake, and that, as Bertram Wyatt-Brown argues, is crucially important to Southerners. You do not sully a person’s reputation. For my part, I’m glad to see the school named after a female.
Laurent Fignon of France, who won the Tour de France in both 1983 and 1984, has taken the lead in this year’s tour from American Greg LeMond, who won in 1986. LeMond is just seconds behind. Many things about the tour still baffle me, but I think I now understand what the tour tests. By awarding all riders in a pack the same time, the organizers remove the incentive to push and shove near the end. The last person in the pack, no matter how far behind the first, gets the first person’s time. On many of the flat stages, the riders finish together in a massive pack. You might think that this is a poor way to differentiate riders, but it’s not. One of the things being tested in the tour is endurance. It takes a lot of stamina and willpower to stay with the pack on a ride of ninety to 150 miles. Suppose the terrain is flat for several consecutive days, then becomes mountainous. Those who are not in good shape will falter when the going gets tough, though they managed to stay with the pack on the flats. The tour pushes you to your limit every day, demanding that you both stay with the pack and retain enough energy to climb the mountains. That’s why the tour is won or lost in the mountain stages. Nearly every rider has the strength to stay in the pack, but only a few can go beyond that to master the climbs. The next challenge for the riders, this weekend, will be the French Alps.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 