Arts & Letters Daily

On Napoleon Chagnon

thuudung — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:00:11 +0000

Fighting and fieldwork. Anthropology, driven by governments and geneticists, has become a battle royal. At the center is Napoleon Chagnon… more»

What’s the point of political philosophy?

thuudung — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:00:10 +0000

Political philosophers are too utopian, too in thrall to abstractions. It’s high time for the field to engage with reality… more»

Supercomputer replica of the brain

thuudung — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:00:09 +0000

The European Union is betting $1.3-billion that Henry Markram and 15 postdocs can construct a brain. But even if they build it, will it think?… more»

The man with no memory

thuudung — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:00:20 +0000

A man known as H.M. had the most famous brain in the world. What can we learn from his love of crosswords, his penchant for punning, his amnesia?… more»

The rationalist way of death

thuudung — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:00:17 +0000

The humanist funeral. Hard-line rationalists are matter-of-fact about death: no fuss, no tears, not a whiff of religion. In the event, though, it isn’t so simple… more»

Slaves to the algorithm

thuudung — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:00:02 +0000

A self-driving car is not just a technological marvel but also a moral problem. If the car hits someone, can we hold an algorithm responsible?… more»

Nuptial poems

thuudung — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:18:43 +0000

Wedding-poem problem. Like wildflowers and little white lights, poetry is ubiquitous at weddings. But it can’t be too abstract, long, or sexual. What’s left? clichés… more»

The case against empathy

thuudung — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:16:57 +0000

The paradoxes of empathy. It’s a force for good, a harbinger of moral progress. It’s also parochial, narrow-minded, and sometimes should be ignored… more»

‘The Strangest Conference I Ever Attended’

thuudung — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:15:40 +0000

David Birnbaum, jeweler and philosopher, promotes a theory of everything – that no one takes seriously. So why did Bard College hold a conference in his honor?… more»

Enlightened monsters

thuudung — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:00:41 +0000

Modernity and Mary Shelley. How we remember Frankenstein’s monster speaks volumes. Was he a soulless automaton or an affectionate autodidact?… more»