The initial reaction to the hiring of General David Petraeus to teach at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College was one of astonishment at the salary–$150k for one semester–offered; this has since devolved into looking askance at the source of the funds and an inquiry into whether such expenditure was the best possible for a public universityContinue reading “General Petraeus Goes to CUNY: Nobel Prize Winners, Eat Your Heart Out”
Author Archives: Samir Chopra
Mark Twain on General Baby
In 1879, at a banquet in Chicago, given by the Army of the Tennessee to their commander General Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain rose to propose a toast to a oft-ignored ‘minor’ entity: You soldiers all know that when that little fellow arrived at family headquarters you had to hand in your resignation. He tookContinue reading “Mark Twain on General Baby”
CUNY Board of Trustees and General Petraeus: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
The ‘General David Petraeus is teaching at CUNY for a ludicrous amount’ scandal has been brewing for a while now. To catch up on its all its salacious, rage-provoking details, you could do worse than check out Corey Robin‘s coverage. In brief: cash-strapped urban public university invites retired US military figure to teach one course forContinue reading “CUNY Board of Trustees and General Petraeus: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
The Vale of Tears: From Babe to Adult
There are times when I hear my little baby girl crying yet again–perhaps when she is hungry, or tired, or needs a diaper changed, or perhaps worse of all, has been ‘put down’ to sleep for one of her daily naps–and the thought crosses my mind that it makes perfectly good sense for our speciesContinue reading “The Vale of Tears: From Babe to Adult”
On Being a ‘Professional Philosopher’, Contd.
In my previous post on being a professional philosopher, I had emphasized the scholarly world: publishing, writing, theoretical orientation etc. Today, I want to take note of another very important duty of the modern professional philosopher: teaching. Most philosophers in the modern university teach a mixture of classes: the introductory ‘service’ courses, which in manyContinue reading “On Being a ‘Professional Philosopher’, Contd.”
Bronowski on the Actively Constructed Good (in the Beautiful)
At the conclusion of The Visionary Eye: Essays in the Arts, Literature and Science, Jacob Bronowski writes: You will have noticed that the aesthetics that I have been developing through these six lectures are in the end rather heavily based on ethics. And you might think that I belong to the school of philosophers whoContinue reading “Bronowski on the Actively Constructed Good (in the Beautiful)”
Paul Valéry on the Indispensability of Avatars
Paul Valéry is quoted in Stephen Dunn‘s Walking Light (New York, Norton 1993) as saying: I believe in all sincerity that if each man were not able to live a number of lives besides his own, he would not be able to live his own life. Valéry’s stress on the sincerity of this claim for theContinue reading “Paul Valéry on the Indispensability of Avatars”
Reflections on Translations – V: The Special Challenges of Poetry
I have previously confessed, on this blog, to being mystified by the magical processes of translation, especially when I realize important components of my literary and philosophical education consisted of reading translated works. This mystification is especially pronounced when I confront translations of poetry, where the translator’s task appears ever more difficult. When I readContinue reading “Reflections on Translations – V: The Special Challenges of Poetry”
Herbert Marcuse on the Unity of Theory and Practice
In Counterrevolution and Revolt (Beacon Press, Boston, 1972), as part of his critical take on the New Left, Herbert Marcuse writes: The pertification of Marxian theory violates the very principle the New Left proclaims: the unity of theory and practice. A theory which has not caught up with the practice of capitalism cannot possibly guide theContinue reading “Herbert Marcuse on the Unity of Theory and Practice”
Reading ‘Roots’ in Sickbay
My reading of Alex Haley‘s Roots was feverish. Literally and figuratively, I suppose, for not only did I finish it in a little over two days, but I did so while running a body temperature above 98.4 F. The circumstances of my reading–the location, my physical condition–played no insignificant part in my reaction to theContinue reading “Reading ‘Roots’ in Sickbay”
Samir Chopra 