-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
Meta
Category Archives: New Books
History of culinary revolution
Prosperity though cutlery? From the Thai mortar and pestle to Cardinal Richelieu’s blunted knives, our kitchens reveal ourselves… more»
Morality and neuroscience
Is morality evolutionarily advantageous? The way our minds function has more to do with ethics than we might think… more»
Food and the Enlightenment
Brain food. The Enlightenment connected serious thinking and serious digestion. Voltaire: “One must be a philosopher in mind and in stomach”… more»
In defense of Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel warns of “Darwinist imperialism.” Here comes a mob of materialists. Leon Wieseltier on scientistic tyranny in intellectual life… more»
MI5 and the intellectuals
Between 1930-1960, Britain’s MI5 kept tabs on prominent intellectuals, such as Auden, Spender, Orwell, Koestler. Cue the comedy of errors… more»
On Gabriele d’Annunzio
How did a poet and novelist with a transgressive streak, outlandish sexual instincts, and a fascination with death become an Italian icon?… more»
Death of neoliberalism
What’s neo about neoliberalism? Coined by British philosophers, the label is a staple of academic prose and left-wing polemics. But what does it mean?… more»
“Is God happy?”
Leszek Kolakowski grew up seeing the devastating effects of a fraudulent ideology. Then he watched his colleagues fall under its sway… more»
Posted in New Books
Comments Off
Gimlet eye of Saul Steinberg
Saul Steinberg had many styles, but he belonged to no movement. He was, above all, a humorist. He depicted life as a joke – and delivered the punch line… more»
Posted in New Books
Comments Off
Oakershott vs. America
Michael Oakeshott thought modern rationalism was vacuous, useless, preposterous. Political discourse could benefit from his thinking… more»
Posted in New Books
Comments Off