My new post is an essay by a philosophy professor who has adopted the handle Hilarius Bookbinder for his Substack Scriptorium Philosophia. Here's a link to the original. The point he's making is that just because something is a stereotype doesn't mean that it's wrong or useless. Sure, a lot of stereotypes are simple prejudice. … Continue reading Hilarius Bookbinder — Stereotypes as Heuristics
This post is an essay by Alva Noë that was recently published in the online magazine, Aeon. Here's a link to the original. Noë is a philosopher at Berkeley who is addressing a key issue that is often misrepresented in the conversation about artificial intelligence. The central point is computers can't think. The computers that drive … Continue reading Alva Noe — Computers Can’t Think
This post is an essay by Jennifer Morton that recently appeared in the online magazine Aeon. Here's a link to the original. I have been posting every Monday and Thursday on this blog for four years, but I feel the need to stick in this post out of sequence because the election date is so near, … Continue reading Jennifer Morton — The Specter of Insecurity
This lovely essay explores the most common question that modernity prompts strangers to ask each other: What do you do? The author is the philosopher Alain de Botton, who explains that this question is freighted with moral judgment. In a meritocracy, what you do for a living is not just your job; it’s who you … Continue reading Alain de Botton: On Asking People What They “Do”
This lovely essay explores the most common question that modernity prompts strangers to ask each other: What do you do? The author is the philosopher Alain de Botton, who explains that this question is freighted with moral judgment. In a meritocracy, what you do for a living is not just your job; it's who you … Continue reading Alain de Boton: On Asking People What They Do
This post is a reflection on Francis Fukuyama's new book, Liberalism and Its Discontents. The book provides the best and clearest discussion I've seen about the power and appeal of liberalism and the nature of the negative reactions it has been generating, especially in recent years. Attacked from both left and right, threatened by populist … Continue reading Francis Fukuyama — Liberalism and Its Discontents
This post is a lovely piece about writing by Phyllis Rose. Here's a link to the original, which appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2001. It's a wonderful essay about how to write effectively, using as a case in point her analysis of Louis Menand's book, The Metaphysical Club, winner of the 2002 … Continue reading Phyllis Rose — In Writing About Ideas, Some Silences Are Golden
This post is a piece I ran into online written by Morgan Housel, manager of the investment firm Collaborative Fund. It offers a few rules, not about investment but about life. I'm not usually big on epigrams, but these I find really compelling. Here's a link to the original. See what you think. A Few … Continue reading Morgan Housel — A Few Rules
This post is an essay by political scientist Francis Fukuyama about the challenges facing liberal democracy today from populisms of the left and right. The original appeared in the on-line journal, American Purpose, which he helped found. A large number of essays have emerged in recent years worrying about the future of liberal democracy, but … Continue reading Francis Fukuyama: Liberalism and Its Discontents
This post is a brilliant essay by Francis Fukuyama, "Liberalism and Its Discontents." In it, he explores the problems facing liberal democracy today. As always, it is threatened by autocratic regimes around the world. But what's new since the fall of the Soviet Union is the threat from illiberal democracy, both at home and abroad, … Continue reading Fukuyama — Liberalism and Its Discontents
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 