This from The New Republic
CatholicismexistentialismFlannery O'Connorgraham greenephilosophical literatureReligionWalker PercyWilliam GiraldiConfessions of a Catholic Novelist
This from The New Republic
Postcard from Waterloo
From the genius that is Tom Verlaine.
When asked how his own life should appear in a biography, Mr. Verlaine thought for a moment before offering his preferred self-deprecating epigram: “Struggling not to have a professional career.”
Hayek and Philanthropy
As Hayekians our thoughts naturally turned to what, if anything, Hayek might have to say on the topic of philanthropy . . . It must be conceded that Hayek’s critique of philanthropy is a rather strange affair . . . The references to Aristotle and to Aristotelian socialism reflect Hayek’s disregard for the niceties of intellectual history . . . Hayek’s view is not an absurd view, but it does run counter to some intuitive cases which are merely abused by being called “atavistic.”
Gatemouth’s Texas Swing
I’ve been working my way through my last haul from the Louisiana Music Factory. This compilation with sleeve notes by non other than Scott Billington showcases a musician at the height of his game aged around 60, something he sustained right to the end hitting 81. Zappa was a big fan of Gatemouth as guitarist.
The Soul of the World
Roger Scruton’s latest (2014) garnering some warm praise, thoughtful discussion rather than the shrill or snide remarks that Roger (one of the most refined minds around) usually attracts.
EPISTEME 12:2
Touted as the 10th anniversary but actually it’s the 12th anniversary.
WALKER PERCY WEDNESDAY – 39
He began to look forward to meeting Mort Prince. Some years ago he had read two of his novels and remembered them perfectly—he could remember perfectly every detail of a book he had read ten years ago or a conversation with his father fifteen years ago; it was the day before yesterday that gave him trouble. After a war novel which made him famous, Mort Prince wrote a novel about a young veteran who becomes disillusioned with the United States and goes to Italy in quest of his own identity. It is in Europe that he discovers he is an American after all.
Rory Gallagher remembered
On the 20th anniversary of the passing of one of electric blue’s giants, Bob Hewitt looks back on the Irish musician’s life and talks to Gallagher’s brother Dónal.
Head on down to New Orleans,
Prettiest place you ever seen,
Get on down to the river bend,
That’s where the music never ends.
Open your ears,
Don’t you feel good?
Get yourself one helluva shot of rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Go on down to New Orleans,
The greatest place you ever been,
Head on down to the river bend,
Dig the music of the Cajun bands,
Honky-tonk piano,
Make you feel good,
Open your ears,
To rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Rory Gallagher – Bullfrog Blues
Symposium on Jack Russell Weinstein’s Adam Smith’s Pluralism: Rationality, Education, and the Moral Sentiments
Coming very soon. Here is the top-notch lineup of Smith scholars for this special issue:
Introduction
Nathaniel Wolloch
Context-dependent Normativity and Universal Rules of Justice
María Alejandra Carrasco
“… but one of the multitude”. Justice, Pluralism and Rationality in Smith and Weinstein
Lisa Herzog
The dynamics of Sympathy and the challenge of creating new commonalities
Dionysis G. Drosos
The “Spectator” and the Impartial Spectator within Adam Smith’s Pluralism
Spiros Tegos
Was Adam Smith an Optimist?
Maria Pia Paganelli
Jack Russell Weinstein
The Political Hypotheses of Adam Smith’s Pluralism: A response to my commentators
Percy and Springsteen
As the date denotes, this has been known for several years and has been widely covered: here is a follow up to this story. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that Robert Coles, author of the solid Walker Percy: An American Search (1979) is also the man behind Bruce Springsteen’s America: The People Listening, A Poet Singing (2004), though I can’t vouch for the latter work.
