Resistance

GERMAR RUDOLF, RESISTANCE IS OBLIGATORYPopper characterized these despicable methods very well when hewrote: 115“I mean the fashion of not taking arguments seriously, and attheir face value, at least tentatively, but of seeing in them nothingbut a way in which deeper irrational motives and tendencies expressthemselves. It is […] the attitude of looking at once for the unconsciousmotives and determinants in the social habitat of the thinker,instead of first examining the validity of the argument itself. […] Butif no attempt is made to take serious arguments seriously, then I beliefthat we are justified in making the charge of irrationalism;”Allow me to proffer four examples of this irrationalism from thesubjects treated here:Ex. 1: First of all there are once more the authors Kogon, Langbeinand Rückerl in their oft-quoted book, 80 in which they slander their opponentsin their preliminary remarks on page two without naming themor mentioning their works, let alone that they mention their argumentsin the book itself, which after all is meant to refute such highly slanderedopponents.Ex. 2: I have already mentioned that in his article Prof. Markiewiczquoted a book of mine, although not in order to discuss the argumentscontained in it, but rather in order to label it as a reprehensible exampleof “Hitler’s whitewashers” who need to be refuted. The accusation thatI intend to morally whitewash anyone is obviously a political one and istherefore illegitimate. It is furthermore an insult, as it will undoubtedlybe understood as a negative moral judgment by the overwhelming majorityof readers.Ex. 3: Then there is Dr. Richard Green, an American chemist withtraining comparable to mine. His statements on the chemical questionsin this matter can claim to be the only ones that are to be taken seriouslyon the side of established version. Green has unfortunately seasoned hiscontributions with about 40% political abuses and insinuations, whichundermines his respectability. When driven into the corner argumentatively,he finally had to admit that the analytic method chosen by Markiewiczand his colleagues is untenable, for the reasons explainedabove. But then Green still kept defending the Poles’ refusal to considermy arguments by claiming that one does not have to seriously deal with115 Ibid., pp. 251f.88