Recent Comments
Tag Archives: liberalism
(Wicked) Radical Affects (Spinoza)
“Everyone knows how it goes–a disgust with the present, a craving to make fundamental changes, uncontrolled anger, a scorn for poverty–these affects lead men to wickedness.” (Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise, Chapter XVII) (thank you, Julie Klein for posting this on FB)
(Reckless Mind) Philosophers & Politics (Mark Lilla)
The distinctly unkind pleasure reading through Mark Lilla’s The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics belongs to liberal skeptics who would concur with Lilla that the combination of philosophy and politics would seem, at least in the twentieth century, to be … Continue reading
(Shipwrecked Minds) Religion & Political Reaction (Mark Lilla)
Not a knockout intellectual blow, Mark Lilla’s The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction packs a tough little liberal punch nevertheless. But to what effect? Meant for a broad readership, The Shipwrecked Mind appeared in 2016 as a New York Review … Continue reading
Loose Texture and Bovine Sympathy (Isaiah Berlin)
I picked a fight on FB with Jewish philosophy friends, something having to do, I asked, with why so many of them devote themselves with such gusto to historical relics, moral creeps, and political reactionaries. It should be said that … Continue reading
Anti Neoliberal Brexit
I think I’m getting it. Along with racism and xenophobia, Brexit is a vote against the very “neoliberal” economic order that we are supposed to despise with such rigor. As it turns out, Brexit would not have been won without voters … Continue reading
A Public Mills about the Modern Art
Instead of static shots, I took some digital snapshots of people milling about a few of the many familiar modern masterpieces at the Museum of Modern Art. I’d highlight three things: [1] the way in which that public physically frames … Continue reading
(Don’t Be Like Moses) Politics & Compromise in the Talmud (Judah b. Korha)
In the current political climate, these words made a lot of sense the other day in the synagogue. Instead of righteous prophetic truth telling, instead of Moses and the law of strict justice that “cuts through mountains,” there’s Aaron, the … Continue reading
