When a newly prominent politician says “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” my first thought is to ask: What do the cold/hot feeling metaphors mean to him? Individualism conceptually means: I am my unique self, I decide and act independently, I take full responsibility for my life. To […]
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I read Inside Steve’s Brain, by Leander Kahney, a compelling business biography of Steve Jobs and Apple. Jobs is a business genius by all accounts (and regularly a jerk on the job, by most accounts). Why has Jobs been so successful as an innovating entrepreneur? One factor is knowing clearly whether consumers or producers drive
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From a 2000 review of a biography of A. J. Ayer, describing the response to the young hotshot’s 1936 Language, Truth and Logic: “It was one of those books that galvanize a whole generation. Ambitious undergraduates commonly read it at a sitting. Their elders were appalled. When students tried to discuss the book at an
Original thinkers’ contemporaries: A.J. Ayer edition Read More »
Reprising this post on Zeev Sternhell, an ally in the battle against the nihilism of the Anti-Enlightenment and its heirs. His book is written for scholars, but note this ringing conclusion: “To prevent the people of the twenty-first century from sinking into a new ice age of resignation, the Enlightenment vision of the individual as
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In 1869, young Friedrich Nietzsche became a professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. The university’s professors of philosophy told their students not to take Nietzsche’s courses, arguing that he was not really a philosopher and a lightweight. As one scholar relates the tale: “For a time, Nietzsche, then professor of
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Related: Scrooge’s Hero Journey and the Meaning of Life (text). Audio version below:
Naughty Santa collection Read More »
What explains the appealing transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge? My annual reposting, in text and audio (at end). The many interpretations of Scrooge // Robin Hood analogy // Scrooge as villain of Socialism // as anti-Christian // as Savvy Investor // as Environmentalist // as Malthusian // as anti-Commercialization // Scrooge’s Aristotelian hero’s journey By Stephen
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According to some, Cambridge University professor James Orr is the intellectual architect of U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance’s political philosophy. Dr. Orr is also Chairman of the National Conservatism movement and author. I debated Professor Orr in London, England, hosted by Konstantin Kisin of Triggernometry. That led to the publication of our formal, written three-round debate
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