I may have to come back and revise this post, but I'm wondering specifically about all of the contextual stuff at this time. As I think our readings have suggested (and like usual maybe I missed something), it seems like the printing press, the protestant reformation and Ramus are all happening relatively around the same time. I do find it interesting that part of what comes out of the reformation is the idea that anyone can have a direct line to god and Ramus is arguing seems to me to amount to anyone's ability to do rhetoric. In both cases there seems to be a sudden disruption of the notion that knowledge can only come from authority. I think that in both cases the ultimate authority is still god, but the "man-made" institutions take a hit. Do we attribute this largely to the printing press or are there other factors as well?
You know. Ramus actually reminds me of a Renaissance version of that guy Kevin Trudeau. You know the dude with the infomercials where he's hawking his book "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About." He cracks me up because he sells himself as someone trying to act in the public good, but he's basically stripped away countless years of medical authority to tell his audience what they "need to know." How much did profit motivate Ramus?
You rock. These are the types of questions that I wish we had more time with. I want to watch like a thousand hours of history channel on this time period and then read everyone and understand more. On one hand, I don't want to miss out on the primary text. On the other, WTF? I know so little about everyone... Mur. Thanks for the good questions : )