News this week: Scientists have found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months. Photograph: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona/Reuters Perhaps it would be fair to say that I am on an analog mission. Much like NASA’s efforts of the same name (“conducted on earth, in […]
Philosophy
- Ideas
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The Mysterious, The Ambiguous, The Particular
A common theme in my postings over the last few weeks has been the very basic question, “how are we to live?” While it is sometimes hard to be objective about the prevalence of a trend when it is a topic you yourself are interested in (I call it the “car buying syndrome”—all of a […]
Incomplete is Not a Dirty Word
Assembling reality is mostly patchwork (from Anna Hepler’s exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art) More on the theme of being right and the cost of that fixation (referenced earlier in this post): An article appeared in the Sunday New York Times Book review last week that speaks to our proclivity to put blinders on […]
- cinema
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On Examing Life
The Thinkers: From left, Slavoj Zizek, Avital Ronell, Judith Butler and Cornel West discuss ideas in the documentary “Examined Life.” (Photo: Zeitgeist Films) The title of this post of course is making reference to the famous line from Plato about unexamined lives not being worth much. That phrase was also the inspiration for Astra Taylor’s […]
Responses to Jung’s Red Book
Rubin Museum of Art chief curator, Martin Brauen, left, and Felix Walder, great-grandson to Carl Jung, inspect Carl Jung’s “The Red Book” (Photo: Rubin Museum) The Rubin Museum exhibit (and accompanying lecture series) that features The Red Book by Carl Jung has been on my mind since I first saw the show a few months […]
Family Wittgenstein
At the family estate, summer 1917. Paul Wittgenstein is second from left; Ludwig Wittgenstein is at right. Photo: Michael Nedo This photo of the Wittgenstein family (as in Ludwig) captures a certain something about Fin-de-Siècle Vienna, a period of time that perpetually fascinates and compels many of us all these years later. And then there […]
Nietzsche and “Herd Values”
Here is another set of responses to a question about Nietzsche’s influence, taken from an article in Eurozine (Previous excerpts were posted here on July 12.) The question asked of experts this time is in reference to Nietzsche’s concept of “herd values.” Jan Sokol and Leslie Paul Thiele have different takes on this oft-discussed aspect […]
Nietzsche’s Long Shadow
For cultural omnivores, 3 Quarks Daily is one of the best blogs around. It is like finding that extraordinary bookstore where every other title sounds like it would be a delicious read. I found a compelling excerpt there this weekend from Eurozine regarding the still lingering, larger-than-life influence of Nietzsche. The article, What does Nietzsche […]