It astounds me that even some of the most well-read of people have no sense of who Rex Warner is. My introduction to Rex Warner was via his translation of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War some thirty years ago when I was studying the philosophy of history. Soon after I came to discover Rex Warner as novelist by…
Commemorating the birth of the master. I think that of his more recent recordings The Bright Mississippi stands as his best, far exceeding his posthumous American Tunes. I must be the only one who thinks that Toussaint’s collaboration with Elvis Costello is thoroughly overrated, though that doesn’t compromise AT at all. Though he has his moments Costello for the most part comes off…
The latest issue of JMB is now available. I especially want to bring your attention to the Critical Notice of Susan Haack’s latest book Evidence Matters: Science, Proof, and Truth in the Law reviewed here by Erica Beecher–Monas. Erica Beecher–Monasjournal of mind and behaviorsusan haack
Waiting with bated breath for Who the F is Frank Zappa? I chanced upon this documentary called Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words. Like George Carlin, more than ever we need Zappa. Even The Guardian gets his value: he along with Bowie was the most articulate, independent-minded and philosophical, the funniest and artistically, the bravest of…
Though there is nothing new in this phenomenon here’s a nice example of good science reporting by Jesse Singal, someone who has consistently taken on the left and the right on at best questionable or at worst outright junk science, the worst offenders these days emanating from the intersectional identitarians. It would be interesting to see how…
I look at him steadily. “That every society has a right to protect itself against its enemies. That a society like an organism has a right to survive. 00000 I know that you work with dreams. What I want to ask you is this: Is there something which is not a dream or even a…
One of my favourite living philosophers (if not the favourite) is David Wiggins. He was my tutor for ethics but not unfortunately for metaphysics which by then had become a secondary interest for him. Great to see that he has just released a new book gathering several of his most important essays on identity in one volume.…
This paper is to be found in Animal Behaviour, Volume 123, January 2017, pp. 207–216. Could this be an extension of the mechanism of stigmergy? (H/T to Jerry Coyne). We investigated tool selection in two species of Aphaenogaster ants by giving them the choice between different kinds of potential tools (natural and artificial objects). Ant workers showed a…
For those who can’t access BBC player here is (a version?) of the show that has just been broadcast along with a companion piece featuring some of those who worked with him. (For the second time, the first vid has been pulled — just search “Bowie: The Last Five Years” in YouTube and perhaps someone has reposted).…
Reissue of a classic BuddhismCognitive scienceEleanor RoschenactivismEvan ThompsonFrancisco VarelaPhilosophy of mindsituated cognition
manwithoutqualities 