“It is not as easy as you imagine to be a pure egoist, and none such have ever succeeded. The apparent egoism of great nations and of great men is the inevitable sternness with which anyone who has his life fixed on some undertaking must bear himself. When we are really going to do something […]
Ortega y Gasset on egoism and dedication to purpose Read More »
For use in my courses, additions to my Texts in Philosophy page. Ruth Benedict, excerpts from Patterns of Culture (1934) on moral relativism. Richard P. Feynman, “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” (1985). Sigmund Freud, “Man is a wolf to man”. Excerpt from Civilization and Its Discontents (1930). Stephen Jay Gould, “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the
Texts in Philosophy — Fall 2018 additions Read More »
Make up your mind. Make a move. Make something. Make a deal. Make a career. Make a home. Make love. Make a family. Make a life.
Chart 1.3: Defining Pre-modernism, Modernism, and Post-modernism Pre-modernism Modernism Post-modernism Metaphysics Realism: Super-naturalism Realism: Naturalism Anti-realism Epistemology Mysticism and/or faith Objectivism: Experience and reason Social subjectivism Human Nature Original Sin; Subject to God’s will Tabula rasa and autonomy Social construction and conflict Ethics Collectivism: altruism Individualism Collectivism: egalitarianism Politics & Economics Feudalism Liberal
Defining Pre-modernism, Modernism, and Postmodernism [Explaining Postmodernism] Read More »
On the beautiful usefulness of dialectic, as Marx expressed in a letter to Engels about a predictive claim he’d made: “It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to
Marx as proto-postmodernist — revealing quotation Read More »
A very good three-part essay by Crypto on (1) Postmodernism, (2) Neo-Marxism, and (3) their intersection. I don’t know who the authors are, but I appreciate their clear and concise summary. Their statement of purpose in writing the essay: “this essay was not written with the intention of expressing agreement or disagreement with Peterson’s conceptualisation
Crypto on Peterson and Hicks on Pomo and Neo-Marxism Read More »
From an interview of Francis Fukyama by Evan Goldstein: Q. You have an unusual background for a political scientist. You majored in classics at Cornell, then did graduate work in comparative literature at Yale, where you studied with Paul de Man. Later you spent time in Paris sitting in on classes with Roland Barthes and
Fukuyama on postmodernism and the end of history Read More »
Here’s Wikipedia’s list of verified oldest people in the world. Interested in the geographical and economic distributions. But the numbers by sex are striking: Top 10: All females. 3 from Japan, 2 from USA, 1 each from France, Canada, Jamaica, Italy, Ecuador. Top 20: 19 females and 1 male. 6 more from USA, 2 more
World’s oldest people — male/female distribution Read More »