In Stendhal‘s The Charterhouse of Parma, the Conte says to ‘our hero’ Fabrizio: A half brainless individual, but one who keeps his eyes open and day in day out acts with prudence, will often enjoy the pleasure of triumphing over men of imagination. It was by a foolish error of imagination that Napoleon was led toContinue reading “Do Sancho Panzas Trump Don Quixotes?”
Category Archives: Books
Molière on the Modern Healthcare System
There are times, when overcome by irritation at our modern medical system, which is expensive, run by insurance companies and all too often, populated by doctors who seemingly aspire to ever greater heights of corporate efficiency even as they resolutely neglect their bedside manners and care little about outcomes while ordering an array of expensiveContinue reading “Molière on the Modern Healthcare System”
Land, Ownership, Property, and Nationalism
A few days ago, a dinner-time conversation with some friends turned to the matter of property disputes within families. Both my wife and I spoke with some feeling about the fierce passions they evoked, their seeming intractability, and of course, in the context of modern real estate pressures, their ever-increasing ferocity. It reminded me, yetContinue reading “Land, Ownership, Property, and Nationalism”
Woody Allen’s Guide to Civil Disobedience and Revolution
Today is Easter Sunday. Jesus was a Jew and a rebel. So, on this great day in Jewish history, and in honor of Jewish rebellion, here is Woody Allen on civil disobedience and revolutions. In perpetrating a revolution, there are two requirements: someone or something to revolt against and someone to actually show up andContinue reading “Woody Allen’s Guide to Civil Disobedience and Revolution”
Returning to Writing (And How It Sucks)
On Wednesday, I resumed work on a philosophy book project that has been on the back-burner for a while. More precisely, I have not worked on it since July 2012. (The fall semester of 2012 saw me teaching three classes, all of them essentially new preparations, and then, like, a baby was born.) Back inContinue reading “Returning to Writing (And How It Sucks)”
Academic Arguments, Sports, and Urban Policing as ‘War’
In the introduction to The Social Construction of What? Ian Hacking writes: Labels such as ‘‘the culture wars,’’ ‘‘the science wars,’’ or ‘‘the Freud wars’’ are now widely used to refer to some of the disagreements that plague contemporary intellectual life. I will continue to employ those labels, from time to time, in this book, for my themesContinue reading “Academic Arguments, Sports, and Urban Policing as ‘War’”
Nietzsche on the Lazy Faithful
Those who read Nietzsche often find him very funny. (Some of those who read him find him extremely unfunny too, especially when the joke is on them.) His humor sometimes sneaks in on you in the most unexpected of places. A good example is found in the following: On the future of Christianity. – As to theContinue reading “Nietzsche on the Lazy Faithful”
Babies and Gender Construction
When I look at my daughter, my baby girl, I don’t detect her gender. I am aware of her sex, for it was announced to me, rather loudly and emphatically, by nurses and surgeons, when she was born, ‘It’s a girl!’ I am aware of her sex too, when I change her diapers. Other thanContinue reading “Babies and Gender Construction”
Glaucon and the Basic and Advanced Polis, Contd.
Yesterday’s post on Glaucon and the preferred forms of the polis for him and Socrates sparked off an interesting discussion on Facebook with Alex Gourevitch. I’m reproducing it here as Gourevitch’s responses are wonderfully rich and worth responding to carefully. Here is the sequence of comments on Facebook, followed by my response last. Alex: IContinue reading “Glaucon and the Basic and Advanced Polis, Contd.”
Glaucon’s Porcine Preference for the Advanced Polis
I never particularly liked Glaucon. His responses to Socrates‘ description, in Plato‘s Republic (372 (a-d)), of the basic polis are a good reminder of why. Socrates quoth: First of all, then, let us consider what will be the manner of life of men thus provided. Will they not make bread and wine and garments and shoes?Continue reading “Glaucon’s Porcine Preference for the Advanced Polis”
Samir Chopra 