Norman Geras, prolific blogger and professor emeritus of politics at the University of Manchester has passed away at the age of 70. He had been suffering from prostate cancer. Norm was best known as a political theorist whose oeuvre included books on Karl Marx, Rosa Luxemburg and Richard Rorty. (He also served on the editorial boards ofContinue reading “RIP Norman Geras”
Tag Archives: Corey Robin
NYPD to CUNY Students: Drop Dead
Corey Robin has an excellent post on the latest twist in the ‘General Petraeus at CUNY‘ fubar situation: students protesting Petraeus’ presence at CUNY are treated, first, to a tongue-lashing by various CUNY administrators including the University Faculty Senate, and then, when six of them are arrested, manhandled, and have the book thrown at themContinue reading “NYPD to CUNY Students: Drop Dead”
General Petraeus Goes to CUNY: Nobel Prize Winners, Eat Your Heart Out
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”
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?”
Contra Ed Smith, Plain and Clear Language is Still a Virtue
In the New Statesman Ed Smith pushes back at Orwell‘s classic ‘Politics and the English Language‘: When politicians or corporate front men have to bridge a gap between what they are saying and what they know to be true, their preferred technique is to convey authenticity by speaking with misleading simplicity. The ubiquitous injunction ‘Let’sContinue reading “Contra Ed Smith, Plain and Clear Language is Still a Virtue”
Adam Gopnik on the Scientist’s Lack of ‘Heroic Morals’
In an essay reviewing some contemporary historical work on Galileo, (‘Moon Man: What Galileo saw‘, The New Yorker, February 11, 2013), Adam Gopnik, noting Galileo’s less-than-heroic quasi-recantation before the Catholic Church, writes: Could he, as Brecht might have wanted, have done otherwise, acted more heroically? Milton’s Galileo was a free man imprisoned by intolerance. What wouldContinue reading “Adam Gopnik on the Scientist’s Lack of ‘Heroic Morals’”
BDS at Brooklyn College: A Sobering ‘Success’ of Sorts
All is well or so it would seem. Corey Robin reports on the latest developments in the BDS-at-Brooklyn brouhaha: Now that the mayor, the New York Times, and just about everyone else have come down hard on all the government officials and politicians who tried to force my department to withdraw its co-sponsorship of the BDS panel, theContinue reading “BDS at Brooklyn College: A Sobering ‘Success’ of Sorts”
2012’s Top Five Posts (Here, Not Elsewhere)
2012, the year that was (or still is, for a few more hours), turned out to be a busy one for blogging at this site. I wrote three hundred and twenty-four new posts, bringing the total for this blog to three hundred and fifty-five. The blog finally crossed fifty thousand views. (A humbling figure, ifContinue reading “2012’s Top Five Posts (Here, Not Elsewhere)”
Miguel De Unamuno: Conservative War-Lover?
My philosophical education, just like everyone else’s, is far from complete, and of course, never shall be. One omission from my readings has been the work of Miguel De Unamuno, whose The Tragic Sense of Life has been adorning my bookshelves for some twenty years now. Recently, I set out to clean up some shelf spaceContinue reading “Miguel De Unamuno: Conservative War-Lover?”
If Not a Perfect God, Then a Imperfect God Maybe? Contd.
A couple of days ago, I wrote a post responding to Yoram Hazony’s article at the Stone. In response, Corey Robin sent me the following comments by email: I was thinking about yours and Norman Geras’s post about Yoram Hazony. I don’t think there’s any question that you’re both right about what the implications ofContinue reading “If Not a Perfect God, Then a Imperfect God Maybe? Contd.”
Samir Chopra 