Bobby Fischer on Women in Chess

I never said that people could not judge someone, that would be absurd. I said that they should not.

 No, not at all.

Bobby Fischer had the right to free speech.

Somehow a lot of people here seem to think that he had an obligation as an amazing chess player to have politically correct views. This makes no sense as chess has nothing to do with politics or the moral high ground.

It has nothing to do with what his political views actually are -- my point is that if you don't want your political views subject to criticism, don't air them on public radio.  His being, or rather not being, a politician is entirely irrelevant.

 Tough crowd. I personally feel that sacrficing yourself for others is always heroic, by definition.

I thought this was settled in the thread by now. I disagree. Chess is a part of human culture. Advancing it benefits entire humanity. Fischer advanced chess and, therefore, the entire humanity. He did not take medications to become "well-adjusted". Instead he stayed the pass. And let his mental health fail. Sacrificed himself. To benefit the entire humanity.

His personal qualities and motivations are a different story. People who do great are not always great. To me, deeds speak louder than words. 

 I think you vastly overstate the cultural relevance of a game.

Damn-it Richie -- don't make me agree with you.

It's the rationalization of Fischer's sacrifice to try to fit it into the former category that I'm struggling with.

Wrong. What societies find acceptable changes yearly. You can't base what you consider right/wrong solely on societies judgements. What is "good" and what is "bad" is never permanently defined. There are hundreds of thousands of men who had the same views as Fischer did about women. However unlike Fischer they were also perfectly mentally sound. Are they all "bad" people?

Judgemental;

2. Inclined to make judgments, especially moral or personal ones:

What moral or personal judgements have I made regarding Fischer, or the people judging Fischer?

 His not being a politician has everything to do with it. Bobby Fischer was a chess player who gave his opinions on public radio. Who says he cared whether his political views were subject to criticism? He said what he wanted to say and that was that.

If he were a politician then it would have mattered because his public support would have been influenced, but since he wasn't all we can do is talk trash about a dead man. A dead man who was known for his chess, not for his political views.

I am afraid you vastly underestimate creativity and interconnection between accepted ideas. We do not remember ancient Greece for its well-adjusted people... 

Clearly he's known for both -- I think this thread is evidence of that.

 Really. So if I ask the average chess player who Bobby Fischer was, I'll hear about how he was a mysogynist?

You would probably hear something like that, yes.

 So you look down on Prometeus and his like. You would prefer to live well-adjusted although without fire. But you are using fire in your life, aren't you? And look down on those who brought it. Wow.

 Alright, let's assume for the sake of argument that this is the case.

Would Bobby Fischer care? And if so, why should we care?

Huh? I don't know whether or not Bobby Fischer would care, or if we should care.

You claimed that Fischer is not known for his views, but he is, and those views include his opinions on women.

 That's because Fischer is not known for his views. He wasn't famous because he was an outspoken anti-semite or mysogynist. You see if he was then you could take out the chess part of his fame and he would still be famous.

You say you don't know whether or not Bobby Fischer cared if he was known as a mysogynist or whether we should care. Well, compare this with whether Bobby Fischer would care if he was known as a good chess player, obviously the only reason we care about him is because he was an excellent one.

I really don't see how you can argue this point.

Fischer was made famous for being a chess player, but he is also well known for being an eccentric bigot/racist.

 Uhm, aren't we mixing here apples and oranges? Fischer's game was his professional contribution. His other comments are the result of our prying into his life. Why are we holding him responsible for something that we inflicted upon him?

Who got a platform because he was a great chess player.  It's a shame what he used the platform for, and to argue that his very public views should be beyond reproach because he's a chess player as opposed to a politician is ridiculous.

I don't think that it was made public via any prying -- he was very much on record.