From his autobiography, about his first trip to America in 1925: “Without stopping to describe my visual impressions on landing in New York — skyscrapers, traffic, lights, Negroes, cinemas, theatres, in fact all that rouses the curiosity of foreigners, and very rightly so — I want to begin by bearing witness as a musician to […]
Igor Stravinsky’s first impression of the United States Read More »
[Herder (1744-1802) was an early Counter-Enlightenment voice calling for group identity politics and value relativism, along with a rejection of cultural appropriation and an embrace of zero-sum cultural conflict. The following is excerpted from Explaining Postmodernism.] Herder on multicultural relativism Sometimes called the “German Rousseau,”[1] Johann Herder had studied philosophy and theology at Königsberg University. Kant was
Johann Herder as prophet of the contemporary university Read More »
I did not know this: In Einstein’s study in Berlin in the 1920s, three portraits hung on the wall: Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, and Arthur Schopenhauer. I learned that from Don Howard’s fascinating “A Peek behind the Veil of Maya” (pdf). Schopenhauer’s pessimism was extreme. Reality, he wrote in The World as Will and
Einstein and Schopenhauer Read More »
Letter to Roger Weightman, on the planned celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence Monticello June 24. 26 Respected Sir The kind invitation I receive from you on the part of the citizens of the city of Washington, to be present with them at their celebration of the 50th. anniversary of American
Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration’s 50th anniversary Read More »
My article “Ayn Alissa Rand (1905-1982)” was first published in the IEP in 2001. The original article focused on Rand’s life and times and some issues in her ethics. This update expands that treatment slightly, mentions a broader range of criticisms, and adds to the bibliography some of the scholarship since then. The encyclopedia is
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy — updated article on Rand Read More »
From the “Did he/she really say that?” file. Here is adversarial-feminist philosopher Sandra Harding on Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica: “why is it not as illuminating and honest to refer to Newton’s laws as ‘Newton’s rape manual’ as it is to call them ‘Newton’s mechanics’?”[1] How did she get there? Well, Francis Bacon did say that
Is Newton’s *Principia* a rape manual? Read More »
From Rousseau’s 1749 Discourse on the Arts and the Sciences: “Princes always view with pleasure the spread, among their subjects, of a taste for the arts of amusement and superfluities … The sciences, letters, and arts spread garlands of flowers over the iron chains with which men are burdened, … make them love their slavery,
Foucault as Rousseauian Read More »
Brett Veinotte interviewed me on postmodernism and its implications and impact on education. After some significant context-setting, the interview portion with me starts around the 28-minute mark. The book discussed is here in various editions and translations. My lecture on philosophy of education and postmodernism is here.
School Sucks podcast on education and pomo Read More »