A striking quotation about Aristotle’s Poetics and its contemporary relevance. Pixar Animation Studios is one the great technical and financial successes in the movie industry. Early in its development, two individuals who were to be instrumental to that success, John Lasseter and Pete Docter, knew that story-telling and not just techical wizardry was essential to […]
Aristotle at Pixar Animation Studios Read More »
Here is a clear example of zero-sum thinking, this time in literature. Author Lynn Shepherd laments J. K. Rowling’s publishing another book, on the grounds that the successful writer crowds out the less successful. In Shepherd’s words: “It wasn’t just that the hype was drearily excessive, or that (by all accounts) the novel was no
Zero-sum economics? J. K. Rowling edition Read More »
I have only two questions: 1. Would Shakespeare feel the need to shoot a portrait of Burroughs? 2. Would he find it amusing? Defacing others’ work is a recurring theme in modern and postmodern art: “Picasso took one of Matisse’s portraits of his daughter—and used it as a dartboard, encouraging his friends to do the
Shooting Shakespeare–novelist William Burroughs Read More »
I’ve been enjoying Qiu Xiaolong‘s series of mystery novels set in Shanghai in the 1990s. One thing I like is Xiaolong’s ability to recreate a culture in transition, with characters of the generation of the Cultural Revolution interacting with characters of the liberalizing and modernizing generation. Early in the Death of a Red Heroine, the
Dancing in communist China Read More »
I have a co-authored article (in English) forthcoming in a Polish academic journal. My co-author is Przemysław Zientkowski of Nicholas Copernicus University. Dr. Zientkowski has just published a book (in Polish) on the critique of human rights in Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy. So if your Polish is up to speed, check it out.
Zientkowski on Nietzsche and human rights Read More »
“Lo que la Ética Empresarial Puede Aprender del Emprendimiento.” The Spanish translation of my essay is by Walter Jerusalinsky and published online at Idóneos e-magazine. The essay was first published in English as “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” [pdf] in the Journal of Private Enterprise. It’s also available at the Social Science Research
Spanish translation of “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” Read More »
This is the sixth and final chapter of the audiobook version of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Chapter Six: Postmodern Strategy [mp3] [YouTube] [54 minutes total] Connecting epistemology to politics [mp3] [YouTube] Masks and rhetoric in language [mp3] [YouTube] When theory clashes with fact [mp3] [YouTube] Kierkegaardian postmodernism [mp3] [YouTube] Reversing
Postmodern Strategy [Explaining Postmodernism audiobook] Read More »
This is the fifth chapter of the audiobook version of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Chapter Five: The Crisis of Socialism [mp3] [YouTube] [74 minutes total] Marx and waiting for Godot [mp3] [YouTube] Three failed predictions [mp3] [YouTube] Socialism needs an aristocracy: Lenin, Mao, and the lesson of the German Social
The Crisis of Socialism [EP audiobook] Read More »