[Frank advice about a “violent natural inclination” from sage Benjamin Franklin, supposing that celibacy is not a desirable option.] “But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking that Commerce with the Sex is inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice that in your Amours you should prefer old Women to young […]
On affairs with older women (classic advice from Benjamin Franklin) Read More »
One-minute clip from a leading 20th-century socialist: “I object to all punishment whatsoever. I don’t want to punish anybody. But there are an extraordinary number of people whom I want to kill. Not in any unkind or personal spirit. But it must be evident to all of you, you must all know half a dozen
George Bernard Shaw, socialist: justify your existence to the government—or die Read More »
The article was first published in 2004, based on a 2003 lecture in New York City. “For a long time critics of modern and postmodern art have relied on the “Isn’t that disgusting” strategy. By that I mean the strategy of pointing out that given works of art are ugly, trivial, or in bad taste,
“Why Art became Ugly” — with updated images Read More »
Essayist Joseph Epstein asks a question about philosophers: “What is it about the study of philosophy that tends to make brilliant minds stupid when it comes down to what are known as actual cases? Consider Martin Heidegger, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, the four great names in twentieth-century philosophy: the first was a
“Why are philosophers stupid about politics?” Read More »
[Reposting this recommendation.] John Adams the mini-series came out last year [2008], but I just began watching it yesterday. The first two episodes are excellent. What a great way to spend part of July 4. Paul Giamatti’s performance hooked me: I have a renewed appreciation for John Adams’s brilliance, determination, and integrity. I also have
The excellent *John Adams* mini-series Read More »
“The doctrines of Europe, were that men in numerous associations cannot be restrained within the limits of order and justice, except by forces physical and moral wielded over them by authorities independent of their will …. We believe that man was a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights, and with an innate sense of
Thomas Jefferson on the old doctrines of Europe Read More »
I usually think of Slavoj Žižek as a performance-artist-of-philosophy-sometimes-shading-into-clownishness, but he can be perceptive, especially when diagnosing the internal dynamics of his fellow leftists. Here is his taxonomy of left thinkers in terms of where they stand on the issue of enjoyment: “Leftist libertarians see enjoyment as an emancipatory power: every oppressive power has to
Žižek on pleasure and three types of leftists Read More »
For use in my courses, additions to my Texts in Philosophy page. Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (1934). Auguste Comte, Catechism of Positive Religion, Conversations I-V (1852). G.W.F. Hegel, Philosophy of Right (1820). Excerpt from Philosophy of History (1822). Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals (1785). Søren Kierkegaard, excerpts from Either-Or (1843). John
Texts in Philosophy — mid-2024 additions Read More »