Dlittle30

LATEST ARTICLES ( 866 )

• LaCapra on the History, Memory, and the Holocaust

  

  Dominick LaCapra's History and Memory after Auschwitz is an important contribution to the topic of "history's responsibility in front of the Holocaust". Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2021 SOCIETY

• Learning and Engagement

  

  John Dewey's Democracy and Education is over a century old. But it still seems strikingly modern, even avant-garde, when compared to many pedagogical practices... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2021 SOCIETY

• Compassion and the Moral Emotions (Nussbaum)

  

  image: Philoctetes injured on LemnosHow can the atrocities of the twentieth century lead to the creation of a better version of humanity? Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2021 SOCIETY

• Organizational Evil

  

  image: IG Farben headquartersA number of posts have confronted the historical realities of atrocities, genocide, and cruelty on a massive scale. Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2021 SOCIETY

• The Antikythera Mechanism

  

  When we think about scientific and technological knowledge in the ancient world, one generally thinks of philosophy and a little bit of pre-scientific musing... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2021 SOCIETY

• Evil and the History of Philosophy (Neiman)

  

  As recent posts suggest, I am interested in finding appropriate ways of rethinking the philosophy of history so as to provide us with greater ability to confron... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2021 SOCIETY

• Wickham on "feudalism"

  

  Chris Wickham is perhaps Britain’s leading historian of European history between the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2021 SOCIETY

• Thinking About Evil in History (Kekes)

  

  I am currently grappling with how to bring the horrendous events of the twentieth century into the philosophy of history. After doing a lot of reading about... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2021 SOCIETY

• Epicurean Advertising?

  

  image: Epicurus inscription at Oenoanda (credit Jack A. Waldron (link))In The Consolations of Philosophy Alain de Botton offers an interesting observation... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2021 SOCIETY

• Making Sense of Atrocities

  

  」Reading Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 has made me aware of something outside his storyline: the normal, routine, and... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2021 SOCIETY

• Frankish Kings and Mynyddog's Gold ...

  

  Chris Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 is a fascinating book to read, if you are interested in how various strands of... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2021 SOCIETY

• Does Philosophy Offer Consolation?

  

  image: Martin BuberAlain de Botton's Consolations of Philosophy poses a bit of a puzzle. Why "consolations"? And why philosophy? How does philosophy come into... Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2021 SOCIETY

• The Late Roman Empire and What Came Next ...

  

  There is a great deal of drama in the fairly limited ideas we have today about the passing of the Roman Empire, the consolidation of "barbarian" kingdoms, and... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2021 SOCIETY

• Botton's Philosophy of Life in the World

  

  image: Diogenes and his barrelI've somehow missed reading any of the numerous books of philosophical reflections authored by Alain de Botton. Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2021 SOCIETY

• A Rapid Tour of Actor-centered Social Ontology

  

  Ontological individualism holds the fairly humdrum view that the social world is entirely constituted by the activities, thoughts, and social relationships of... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2021 SOCIETY

• Remembering MLK

  

  Our democracy is shaken by the extreme right today, and racism lies at the bottom of the fears and antagonisms that have been used to stir up violent actions an... Read more

  Posted on 18 January 2021 SOCIETY

• Guest Post by Paul Roth on Neil Gross's Richard Rorty

  

  Paul Roth is distinguished professor of philosophy and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Roth has written extensively on the philosoph... Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2021 SOCIETY

• Even Worse Than We Thought ...

  

  We have understood for quite a while that there are dangerous anti-democratic forces in America today — hate-based organizations, right-wing militias,... Read more

  Posted on 10 January 2021 SOCIETY

• Vienna Circle in Emerson Hall

  

  I am enjoying reading David Edmonds' The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle, which is interesting in equal measures in its... Read more

  Posted on 08 January 2021 SOCIETY

• Orwell's Study of Mentality and Culture

  

  George Orwell wrote a great deal of literary criticism, book reviews, and intellectual commentary, almost always with a down-to-earth plain speaking that... Read more

  Posted on 05 January 2021 SOCIETY