Sean Carroll comments:
I don't think "You shouldn't be talking about Hegel unless you've spent several years reading his works in the original German, along with the most important secondary sources" is the right angle for the Jonah-mockery to take. If we're not allowed to talk about the works of thinkers about which we are not as knowledgeable as the world's true experts, the public discourse would become a little arid.
I agree. Which means I should probably, just this once, take a break from mockery (Actually, this isn't such an either/or choice. What follows is a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care) and make my critique of Goldberg a little more explicit, because there's actually a reason so many on the left are taking aim at the book.
