Reason gone mad
I gave a talk about reason, scientism and liberalism at a recent conference put on by the Roman Forum. Here’s a *.pdf of the talk’s written form.
Society and culture
Social life as a tale told by an idiot
I continue my investigation of current ideals of life, with Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks and Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter. (The former author is the NYT columnist, the latter a couple of youngish socialist Canadian … More ...
Cool cats and gentlemen
“Coolness” is an odd sort of thing. It’s a little ridiculous for someone over the age of 40 or so to notice or comment on it. He should have something better to do, people will say, and he’s going to get it wrong anyway.
Still, it’s an ideal of life that does have some authority … More ...
One skeptical viewer
I just watched 12 Angry Men, supposedly one of the top 100 movies of all time, on DVD. Before watching it told my wife that I thought based on reputation that it was going to be “improving.” Now that I’ve watched it I suppose I must be improved.
Movie-wise, it’s not exactly up there … More ...
Amor patriae
Love of country can mean a lot of things. Many of them don’t seem to apply from my standpoint. It can mean:
- Love of the principles for which the country stands. What are those principles in America today, though—individual economic success? National strength? Global democracy? Inclusiveness and tolerance? Those are all good things within limits,
Ach Hans–you make joke!
A bothersome feature of the Salingaros book I just commented on briefly is that it’s necessary. Basically, he’s saying that buildings should look normal to normal people, and fit in with the way normal people normally act and feel. Nobody’s ever had to say that before. Up to 80-100 years ago such things could not … More ...
The Veritas of sophists
R. R. Reno, at the First Things weblog, flags the final report of the Harvard task force on general education. From Reno’s discussion it appears that “liberal education” is now understood as the training of technocrats to man the global machinery that is to govern 21st century society. In particular, Harvard students are … More ...
Thinking about hatred
Here’s a provocative if somewhat odd piece on hatred from Taki’s Top Drawer. A quote:
… More ...According to the old, religious “psychology” of hatred, people controlled by this sin are inherently quarrelsome, because they see slights everywhere. Hate-dominated individuals perceive as snubs actions in which others see nothing, for example a glance, a tone of
They’ve really thought it through
Here’s an example of how ways of thinking play out in daily life that reject the concept of the natural, and therefore common sense, in favor of technological conceptions and controlled rationalized organization: one woman’s account of Catholic parish life post-Scandal. Because of the scandals resulting from episcopal protection of clerical pederasts, a group for … More ...
Juicing and the nature of man
A “cultural issue” is one people have strong views on but don’t know how to discuss. That makes for discussions that are sometimes interesting but sometimes repetitive and aside the point. People come up with odd and inventive arguments to back up gut reactions, repeat them again and again, and ignore everyone else.
Here’s a … More ...