In my previous posting, I noted that Irving Kristol had a utilitarian attitude towards religion, viewing it as a necessary instrument of social control. For readers who might want more detail, I recommend this review of Kristol’s book Neoconservatism by Steve Vieux in New Politics.
Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category
Kristol and the Uses of Religion
Posted in Media, Personalities, Philosophy, tagged David Frum, Irving Kristol, shoddy intellectuals, Steve Vieux, Terry Teachout on September 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Irving Kristol, RIP
Posted in Personalities, Philosophy, tagged Brad DeLong, Irving Kristol, shoddy intellectuals, William F. Buckley on September 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Irving Kristol died yesterday and I’ve been wrestling with the issue of whether I should write a note on his passing or not. When a political adversary leaves the scene, I’m inclined to follow the principal of “de mortuis nil nisi bonum” (of the dead, speak no ill). The passing of William Buckley, who had [...]
Large and In Charge
Posted in Philosophy, tagged body images, Glamour magazine on September 10, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen writes:
Recently, Glamour magazine ran this photo in an article promoting healthy body image.
The majority of the online responses were positive, and even my male friend Baker commented on her nice smile and other weird, irrelevant things like that. But my first thought when I saw it was “What is the dealie with the [...]
The plausible deniability of M.I.A.
Posted in Foreign affairs, Philosophy, Popular culture, tagged Gil Scott-Heron, M.I.A., Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, Midnight Oil on September 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, witness to civil war, refugee, pioneer of “global ghetto funk”, outspoken creator of a politically-charged debut album and of an even more creative follow-up album that she recorded in locations around the world after being denied a visa to work in the U.S. — a rebel’s badge of honour if [...]
Betsy McCaughey: Still a Liar
Posted in Philosophy, tagged A.M. Lamey, Betsy McCaughey, masterful polemics, shoddy intellectuals on August 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Like Freddy Krueger and Dracula, Betsy McCaughey will always be with us. She first gained fame writing about the health care reform in a notorious 1994 New Republic essay, which was filled with lies but had a wide circulation and influence. Now as health care reform is once again on the table, McCaughey has risen from [...]
Study Shows…
Posted in Philosophy on August 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen writes:
Study shows that women eat less around men
For a complete list of things that don’t change, google “the past” and “still photographs of anything anywhere.”
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“Women order smaller and less calorific meals if eating with a man than if dining with female friends,” according to a group of people the DailyMail calls “Scientists.” [...]
Thoroughly Walled In
Posted in Philosophy, tagged Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain on August 8, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen writes:
Sunday August 9th 2009 is the 156th anniversary of Thoreau’s Walden being published. “But I read that in high school and hated it,” I hear you say. (I have very good ears.) “It’s a bitter guy talking about beans for three hundred pages. Walden is the worst.”
False. You think Walden is the worst [...]
Global Citizenship Expert Reviews Japan’s Open Future
Posted in Asia, Foreign affairs, History, Japan, Philosophy, Popular culture, tagged book review, Global Asia, global citizenship, Hans Schattle, Japan, Japan's Open Future on July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’d like to share a recent review of my book Japan’s Open Future: An Agenda for Global Citizenship by Dr. Hans Schattle, an expert on global citizenship and author of the 2007 book The Practices of Global Citizenship.
I have not yet had the chance to read Schattle’ s book, but according to the Amazon review, it “provides a detailed and [...]
A Garden at Last for Kolakowski
Posted in Arts and Aesthetics, History, Personalities, Philosophy, Uncategorized on July 22, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I was sorry to hear from Jeet’s recent post that Leszek Kolakowski had died. As an undergrad I read and read again his penetrating collection of essays in Modernity on Endless Trial – an inspired title, I always thought. Fittingly enough for someone who was influenced by Kant, he shook me from some of my immature dogmas.
For instance, Kolakowski [...]
The Uses of Nostalgia
Posted in Arts and Aesthetics, Media, Philosophy, Popular culture, tagged Bob Dylan, Chris Ware, Coen Brothers, Fredric Jameson, Robert Crumb, Seth, Walter Benjamin on June 28, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Robert Crumb’s nostalgia for that old time music.
Nostalgia is a suspect emotion, both psychologically and politically. Emotionally, nostalgia carries connotations of escapism, ignoring present realities while longing for a mythical past. Politically, nostalgia has often been used by conservative and Fascist leaders who have deployed images of the good old days in order to thwart [...]
