This very quirky band were renowned for their blistering live performances. Though they bore a superficial resemblance to the prevailing aesthetic of glam rock, they were worlds away. I read somewhere that their style can best be characterized as “heavy metal Vaudeville” which I think is kind of apt. What other band could get away…
LW’s Lectures on Religious Belief online. Here is a nice discussion entitled ‘Philosophy to the glory of God’. Wittgenstein on God, religion and theology. Speaking of religion David Stern discusses the rather vexed question of Was Wittgenstein a Jew? Worth also checking out these videos. A. J. AyerBernard Williamsdavid sternepistemology of religious beliefGenia SchönbaumsfeldGodJewish IdentityJoost HengstmengelLudwig WittgensteinReligiontheology
Last but by no means least here is an extract from Vernon’s Smith’s foreword. This book is a welcome addition to the resurgent scholarly and practical interest in Adam Smith’s contributions to market economics and its antecedents in the social order of human culture. In Smith, propriety concerned the rules that govern human sociability by…
As for the present young man, the last of the line, he did not know what to think. So he became a watcher and a listener and a wanderer. He could not get enough of watching. Once when he was a boy, a man next door had gone crazy and had sat out in his…
Given Wayne’s age and life it’s highly probable that he died in complete obscurity quite some time ago. Anyway as you can see in his Wiki entry, he led quite the life. I can hear now why only someone like James Booker and Wayne himself gave the song such heartfelt authenticity (it has been covered…
My Cousin, Ludwig Wittgenstein — a lovely memoir (see family tree below). The first extract below (The New Yorker) reminded me of the Percy legacy (second extract). Wittgenstein, once asked a pupil if he had ever had any tragedies in his life. The pupil, evidently well trained, inquired what he meant by “tragedy.” “I mean suicides,…
Both time-related (metaphysical) songs from pretty much the same period (’72-’73). Thinking about time also brought to mind one of my favorite (or at least at least in the top three) philosophical papers — later picked up by Dummett. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours…
This from Cogito, Volume 8, Issue 1, 1994, pp. 3-19 Cogito: Perhaps you could start by telling us something about your own philosophical background. How did you come to study philosophy, and what have been the main influences that have helped to shape your thought? Williams: I started learning philosophy formally at Oxford, where I went, in the…
Latest issue Alexander William SalterAustrian EconomicsbankingBehavioral economicsDiablo IIemergent orderHayekJacky MallettmarketsPaul LewisPeter Lewinphilosophy of social sciencesituated cognitionsocial epistemologySolomon SteinSpontaneous order
This from the New York Times. Yet another player on the externalist bandwagon but at least he seems rather more distinctive given his background and interests. Mr. Crawford skips quickly past smartphones and other devices to what he sees as the deeper problem: the Enlightenment notion of the autonomous self. To make sense of it,…
manwithoutqualities 