For Valentine’s Day, reprising my round-up of philosophers talking to their sweethearts – collected from conversations overheard at smoky cafés, college libraries, mountain caves, and seminar rooms the world over. The Aristotelian: “I wish to marry you, for I know that my happiness, both of body and soul, is contingent upon our union in the […]
Should I marry you? — Philosophers answer the big question Read More »
My favorite headline so far in 2024: Kaliningrad Governor Blames Immanuel Kant for Ukraine War.* The governor of Kant’s hometown no doubt has in mind Kant’s late “Perpetual Peace” essay, which projects a future republican cosmopolitan federation of states committed to universal duties and dignities. Such a future is the opposite of Putin’s nationalistic and
Ukraine war: Blame Immanuel Kant? Read More »
Binary oppositions are rare in philosophy and politics. Frequently, apparent enemy positions share implicit underlying premises. Related: This abstract philosophical taxonomy from Chapter 1 of Explaining Postmodernism:
Our Three-Way Culture War [Chart] Read More »
I’ve been reading Richard Seaford’s Money and the Early Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy. Seaford’s theme: “the monetisation of the Greek polis in the sixth and fifth centuries BC contributed to a radical transformation in thought that is, in a sense, still with us. Academics—perhaps because they are more interested in texts than in money—have
Greek money and philosophy Read More »
Let’s Save the Economy in 7 Easy Steps (and Have Fun While Doing It!) When I was young, I believed in freedom and self-responsibility. Yet my colleagues have regularly told me that my attitude is out of touch with contemporary public policy, which requires the use of any and all legislative tools to solve society’s
How drunken sex can save the economy Read More »
Michel Foucault is the most famous postmodernist, and In his History of Sexuality he asks, among other questions:* Are we less sexually repressed than the Victorians?* Is casual pedophilia really such a big deal?* Is sexual liberation actual, or simply a new strategy of capitalist power? In the Philosophers, Explained series:
Foucault on Sex and Power Read More »
Re-reading The Fountainhead made me wonder: Is the character Gordon Prescott based on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy?
The Fountainhead’s Gordon Prescott—Heidegger’s disciple? Read More »