Olympia Snowe’s announcement that she would not seek reelection in November 2012 and would instead retire when her third term ends in January 2013 has, understandably, been the cause of much gnashing of teeth among those ostensibly committed to a more tolerant politics and to ‘pragmatism’ in legislation. Snowe herself wrote an Op-Ed in theContinue reading “Nietzsche on Olympia Snowe’s Departure From the Senate”
Category Archives: Books
Kraftwerk Makes Us Tell The Truth: We Are The Robots?
Kraftwerk’s The Robots has been an electro-pop classic ever since its release–on Kraftwerk’s classic seventh album, The Man-Machine—in 1978. My brother and I discovered Kraftwerk at roughly the same time, and, like many other schoolboys, quickly became entranced by its revolutionary blend of synthesizers, vocoders, and electronic percussion. Some thirty years on, I still get aContinue reading “Kraftwerk Makes Us Tell The Truth: We Are The Robots?”
Lawrence’s Rainbow Still Glistens
So much has been written about DH Lawrence‘s The Rainbow that further commentary is perhaps superfluous, but possible redundancy has never been much of an influence in decisions to write. So here I am, offering my dos pesos. The Rainbow, ostensibly the multi-generation history of the Brangwen family (which continues in Women in Love), isContinue reading “Lawrence’s Rainbow Still Glistens”
Remembering What One Reads
In DH Lawrence‘s The Rainbow–on which I will soon pen a few thoughts here–in Chapter 12, ‘Shame,’ Ursula wonders, overcome by tedium at studying “English, Latin, French, Mathematics and History:” Why should one remember the things one read? Why indeed? Ursula’s question, of course, is directed at the unquestionable tedium and seeming futility of an educationContinue reading “Remembering What One Reads”
Report on Concurring Opinions Symposium on Artificial Agents – II
Today, I’m continuing my wrap-up of the Concurring Opinions online symposium on A Legal Theory for Autonomous Artificial Agents. I’ll be noting below the various responses to the book and point to my responses to them (Part I of this wrap-up was posted yesterday). While almost all respondents seem to have seriously engaged with theContinue reading “Report on Concurring Opinions Symposium on Artificial Agents – II”
Report on Concurring Opinions Symposium on Artificial Agents – I
The Concurring Opinions online symposium on my recently-released book A Legal Theory for Autonomous Artificial Agents (University of Michigan Press, 2011) wrapped up yesterday. The respondents to the book blogged on it from Tuesday till Thursday last week; from Friday till Monday I spent most of my time putting together responses to the excellent responses offered byContinue reading “Report on Concurring Opinions Symposium on Artificial Agents – I”
Chiasson on Pinsky: Meeting Poetry with More Poetry
Reviews of poets and poetry can often be tedious: the poet is sometimes trampled by the reviewer’s exegesis and analysis; sometimes we wish merely to be pointed toward the poem. But sometimes the reviewer can, in his responses, show his own poetic instinct. In his review of Robert Pinsky‘s Selected Poems (New York Review of Books,Continue reading “Chiasson on Pinsky: Meeting Poetry with More Poetry”
Russell on Marx as Excessively Practical Messiah and Schoolman
In his sometimes cranky, often witty, and always erudite History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell paints deflationary portraits of many members of the Western philosophical tradition. (Russell is particularly witty when dealing with Kant and Nietzsche; those treatments will soon form the subject of posts here). He also shows a rare talent for the artful digression,Continue reading “Russell on Marx as Excessively Practical Messiah and Schoolman”
Nietzsche on Bloggers and Blogging
Today, continuing my series of posts on In Nietzsche You Can Find a Line for Everything, I give you Nietzsche on bloggers and blogging. (The first two posts in this series drew on Human, All Too Human: A Book For Free Spirits, translated by RJ Hollingdale, Cambridge University Press, 1986 (this version includes Volume 2:Continue reading “Nietzsche on Bloggers and Blogging”
Provincialism’s Easy Allure Or, Writing Outward From The American Academy
In The Reactionary Mind, Corey Robin writes, As sophisticated as the recent literature about conservatism is, however it suffers from three weaknesses. The first is a lack of comparative perspective. Scholars of the American right rarely examine the movement in relation to its European counterpart. Indeed, among many writers it seems to be an articleContinue reading “Provincialism’s Easy Allure Or, Writing Outward From The American Academy”
Samir Chopra 