manwithoutqualities

Quicksand

January 8, 2019david bowie

This is the one song aside from Station to Station that has left Bowie commenters the most flummoxed. The most expansive discussion I’ve come across on Quicksand is on Arad Alper’s The Philosophy of Pop blog. While Chris O’Leary is spot-on drawing a contrast between Lennon and Bowie (the ’60s vs. the ’70s) on his excellent Pushing Ahead of the Dame blog, at least in this case, Arad offers a far more nuanced perspective. For good measure, here too is Joshua Scott Hotchkin’s take. It’s well-worth checking out Chris’ thoughts on Station to Station. Speaking of Chris, be sure to check out his soon-to-be released Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016.

Call for Papers: Decentralised Governance: Hayek Amongst the Machines

January 7, 2019Decentralised Governance

Check out this Call for Papers

Artificial intelligence Austrian Economics blockchain cosmos & taxis cryptocurrency distributed knowledge distributed ledger technology Friedrich Hayek

Philo of Alexandria and the Construction of Jewishness in Early Christian Writings

January 5, 2019philo of alexandria

I’ve just received my review copy of this which will appear as a joint review along with Philo of Alexandria: An Intellectual Biography. This past year has turned out to be a red letter year for Philonic Studies, a book from an “old hand” (Maren Niehoff) which I have already written up and another from a “young gun” (i.e. Jennifer Otto). Once again things look promising in that the doyen of Philonic Studies, David Runia, seems to be well referenced in the latter.

david runia early church hellenism Jennifer Otto Jewish Identity Judaism logos Maren Niehoff philo of alexandria Religion & Spirituality

The Moviegoer: Reissue

January 3, 2019walker percy

Reissue of Percy’s first novel with an afterword by Paul Elie. (Are there two afterwords? — both Elie and Richard Ford are listed).

existentialism new orleans Paul Elie philosophical literature Richard Ford the moviegoer Walker Percy

C. S. Peirce and F. A. Hayek on the Abstract Nature of Sensation and Cognition

January 2, 2019friedrich hayek

Jim Wible’s chapter.

Charles Sanders Peirce Cognitive neuroscience Friedrich Hayek Hayek in Mind James wible philosophical psychology

Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3

December 31, 2018acid funk

As usual AllMusic gets it. The deeply funky grooves are down to Chaz Jankel, quite possibly the UK’s greatest funkmeister. The Sly influence is palpable and as a consequence this is solid party music to ring in the new year.

There is humor in this music in bushels. But all of that humor points to the heart of a cultural malaise, and at what crap it is to be lonely and brokenhearted and broke in an age of abundance while questioning what that abundance is.