Crack open for a hard boiled think
Anyone who has the highest admiration for David Hume, as I do, will welcome this book. Hume is the profoundest and most stylish philosopher ever to have written in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as ‘the Great Infidel’. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy, and is now […]
The Infidel and the Professor by Dennis Rasmussen Read More »
In this collection 15 writers consider the impact of their bilingualism on the development of their craft. All agree that, in some sense, it was precisely the feeling of not quite fitting into their surroundings that made them writers at all. Amy Tan, Josef Skvorecký, Ariel Dorfman, Leonard Michaels, Luc Sante and others look back
The Genius of Language by Wendy Lesser Read More »
In China, the year 1997 was marked by the death of Deng Xiaoping, the country’s leader for two decades, and the return of Hong Kong from British rule. Peter Hessler (http://www.peterhessler.net/) spent two years teaching English literature in a small town on the Yangtze, and observed Chinese political life first hand. He is able to
River Town by Peter Hessler Read More »
Many dedicated readers, who are devoted to the life of the mind, understand that deep thought can be represented in literature. Angus Fletcher (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=183131649) shows here how thought gets expressed in the language of history writing, poetic writing, philosophical writing, and fiction writing. Fletcher’s references are wide and rich. We are taken into the mind
Colors of the Mind by Angus Fletcher Read More »
In this collection of 17 brief essays Elena Passarello (https://www.elenapassarello.com/bio/) traces stories of famous animals and how they have reshaped our thinking about humans. She reflects on our need for new language in an age of mass extinction, the way that Albrecht Dürer’s wildly inaccurate rhinoceros prints influenced popular imagination in 16th century Europe, and
Animals strike curious poses by Elena Passarello Read More »
Happiness studies have shown repeatedly that people with accumulated wealth are less fulfilled than those with little money. How, then, can we explain the glorification of profit and the insatiable quest for riches that pervades our culture? From Hippocrates, Plato, and Seneca to Montaigne and Cervantes, many first rate minds have viewed the love of
The Usefulness of the Useless by Nuccio Ordine Read More »
The experience of looking at art has neurobiological correlates in the brain. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain describes these. Semir Zeki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semir_Zeki) uses a range of examples from artists including Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Magritte, Malevich and Picasso. The book constitutes a kind of aesthetic tour of the brain. Zeki offers a systematic
Inner Vision by Semir Zeki Read More »
It’s often useful to absorb the best arguments of thinkers whom one disagrees with most sharply. Only then can your own position be strengthened. In the same way, a chess player wishing to improve seeks out the strongest opponent. In this book Philippa Foot (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/05/philippa-foot-obituary) sets out a naturalistic theory of ethics, which she calls
Natural Goodness by Philippa Foot Read More »
One of the texts from the Ancient world of lasting influence, and which can still be enjoyed with sympathy by the modern reader, is Meditations (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marcus-aurelius/#ChaMed) by Marcus Aurelius. This Roman Emperor spent most of his life campaigning against barbarians, dealing with conspiracy at home, and combating Christianity. Yet the most powerful man in the world
The Inner Citadel by Pierre Hadot Read More »
