Still on Percy, check out Brian Smith’s neat little article. Do also check out Brian’s recent book as well which I hope to review shortly. brian a. smithexistentialismlove in the ruinsPolitical philosophyWalker Percy
We are aware that the effect is achieved by applying the notions of water and scars to lightning, the most unwaterlike or unscarlike thing imaginable. But are these metaphors merely pleasing or shocking or do they discover?—discover an aspect of the thing which had gone unformulated before? Clouds are called variously bars, rafters, prisms, mealy,…
Freely available paper in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Humans routinely experience pleasure in response to higher order stimuli that confer no clear evolutionary advantage. Aesthetic responses through pursuit of and engagement with the arts activates the same reward network in the brain that responds to the basic, sensory pleasures associated with food, sex and drugs…
One of the contributors to the forthcoming Walker Percy, Philosopher (Palgrave) volume (“Percy on the Allure of Violence and Destruction”) has himself a new book out on Percy entitled Walker Percy and the Politics of the Wayfarer. brian a. smithexistentialismPhilosophy of LanguagePolitical philosophyWalker Percy
The reissue of TSO edited by Viktor Vanberg (originally Chicago University Press) is about to, for some reason, also be published by Routledge. Here is an excerpt from Viktor’s excellent introduction: Among F. A. Hayek’s numerous publications, The Sensory Order (hereafter TSO) is undoubtedly the most unusual. After all, from someone known as an economist…
Matt Ridley in The Journal of Private Enterprise, 32(3): 1-7. Adam SmithcapitalismilliberalismLiberalismmatt ridleyregressive leftSpontaneous orderVernon Smith
Anti-semitism as a term just doesn’t cut it any longer — the term should be more specific — Jew hatred. Here from a few years back Michael Ezra argues in The Philosopher’s Magazine that Karl Marx’s anti-Semitism is clear and unambiguous. anti-SemitismJew hatredKarl MarxMarxismMichael Ezraregressive left
Born on this day. Here’s an assessment of Wiener’s legacy from a few years back. Having read most of the notable work on “epistemic ignorance” (yes, there really is a specialized small literature) there is one prize that still alludes me and that is Wiener’s “The Theory of Ignorance” (1906), a philosophical demonstration of the…
Especially during prohibition. See: Winston Churchill Gets a Doctor’s Note to Drink “Unlimited” Alcohol in Prohibition America (1932) “I do not wish to be hurt any more. Give me chloroform or something,” he directed, while waiting for the anesthetist. ***** [Otto Pickhardt] is perhaps best known as the doctor who treated Winston Churchill when he was hit…
Here’s a elegantly and amusingly written review by Tanya Gold of David Buss and Cindy Meston’s book from about seven years ago — way and above the pseudo-sophisticate dross that The Guardian typically dishes up. And here they are in person. cindy mestondavid bussevolutionary biologyEvolutionary PsychologysexTanya Gold
manwithoutqualities 