J.P. Stern on Canetti

To conclude that Canetti’s use [in his book Crowd’s and Power] of the method of philosophical anthropology is uncritical – that is, unphilosophical – is to advert to the fact that at no point in the book does he (or indeed, more surprisingly, Iris Murdoch in her enthusiastic review of 1962) show any interest in providing a validation for his insights and claims.

Relying (presumably) on the evidence of a certain kind of robust and aggressive common sense, the book contains no truth-criteria by which to assess its arguments.

It was Kant – not Kien, the central character of Auto-da-Fe – who observed that there is nothing wrong with the appeal to common sense so long as that appeal is not challenged.

–J. P. Stern, “Canetti’s Later Work,” London Review of Books, Vol. 8 No. 12, July 3, 1986. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v08/n12/j.p.-stern/canetti-s-later-work