The Greeks were the first to do philosophy, and one of the perennially great questions is: Why the Greeks and not some others? Various answers focus on their cosmopolitan trading economy, their concurrent development of democratic politics, or some other combination of factors. I have long thought that the Greeks’ naturalistic religion was a positive, […]
Religion: help or hindrance to philosophy? Read More »
Mind becomes numb; Words do not mean; World out of plumb— Man needs caffeine.
A 3 p.m. poem, after hours and hours of exam-week grading Read More »
[This is Section 8 of Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 8. Economic socialism, not capitalism The second theme of the Program is a stress upon socialism and a strong rejection of capitalism. Numerically, socialism is the most emphasized theme in the Nazi Program, for over half of the Program’s twenty-five points—fourteen out of the twenty-five, to
Economic socialism, not capitalism [Section 8 of Nietzsche and the Nazis] Read More »
Over the semester I have been reading and enjoying Michael Strong’s The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice. I was struck today by a quotation Strong draws from Peter Drucker’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship: “We have known, for instance, for several hundred years that mathematics is a problem subject in school. A small
Mathematics education Read More »
[This excerpt is from Chapter 5 of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault] Marcuse and the Frankfurt School: Marx plus Freud, or oppression plus repression Marcuse had long labored in the trenches of academic philosophy and social theory before coming to fame in America in the 1960s. He studied philosophy at Freiburg
Herbert Marcuse and the Frankfurt School [EP] Read More »
I’ll be part of a panel discussion in Chicago at the Illinois Policy Institute on Wednesday, December 9. Here is the announcement, from IPI’s site: “You’re invited to join us on Wednesday, December 9 for cocktails, appetizers, engaging discussion, and some good old-fashioned holiday cheer! We’ll be talking about how free markets help the poor
Free markets and poverty panel at IPI Read More »
When I teach Philosophy of Science, one of the books I use is Martin Gardner’s excellent Great Essays in Science, with selections from Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, and other greats. The course has a unit on scientific fraud, including examples of the destructive effects of the politicization of science. Gardner’s anthology includes two
Scientific fraud and politics Read More »
[This excerpt is from Chapter 3 of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault] Heidegger’s synthesis of the Continental tradition Martin Heidegger took Hegelian philosophy and gave it a personal, phenomenological twist. Heidegger is notorious for the obscurity of his prose and for his actions and inactions on behalf of the National Socialists
Heidegger and postmodernism [EP] Read More »