The line is from Martin Heidegger’s resigned and despairing Der Speigel interview, shortly before his death in 1976. At Rockford University we hosted a showing of Jeffrey Van Davis’s film on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy and his disturbing relationship with National Socialism. After the showing, we had a panel discussion featuring director Van Davis, professors David […]
“Only a God Can Save Us” documentary Read More »
When the expanded edition of Explaining Postmodernism: From Rousseau to Foucault was being published, I re-read several transition figures, i.e., those twentieth-century intellectuals who were important in preparing the groundwork for postmodernism. One is anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009), whom I first read as an undergraduate. Lévi-Strauss formally studied philosophy and law, but because the bulk
Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropology, and postmodernism Read More »
A fascinating article at Reservatio’s substack on the battles over Kant. While Putin has called Immanuel Kant one of his two favorite philosophers, in this new era of Russian nationalism and the Kaliningrad governor’s recent accusation, the deep question now is whether Immanuel is actually a subversive agent of Western imperialism. Fortunately, “government-loyal Russian philosophers“
The Kant Wars: Putin and the new/old Russia Read More »
At the beginning of a new era, Bacon asks: * What can make science and philosophy productive and generative, not stagnant and sterile as it currently is? * Should we really give tradition much credence? * Learning begins with the senses, but how do we overcome our senses’ and intellects’ native weaknesses? * What is
“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” | Francis Bacon |Philosophers, Explained Read More »
Via Classically Liberal, reprising this intriguing connection. In a letter to his former master, Frederick Douglass explains his decision to escape from slavery: “The morality of the act, I dispose as follows: I am myself; you are yourself; we are two distinct persons, equal persons. What you are, I am. You are a man, and
Frederick Douglass and Ayn Rand Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »