Tag: philosophy

Friedrich Nietzsche on German hostility to the Enlightenment (1881) / Zeev Sternhell on the price to be paid for cultural differentialism

German hostility to the Enlightenment – Let us consider the intellectual contribution to general culture made by the Germans of the first half of this century, and let us take first the German philosophers: they retreated to the first and oldest stage of speculation, for, like the thinkers of dreamy ages, they were content with… Read More Friedrich Nietzsche on German hostility to the Enlightenment (1881) / Zeev Sternhell on the price to be paid for cultural differentialism

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Julien Benda: Our age is the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds

With a hitherto unknown consciousness (prodigiously fanned by authors) every nation now hugs itself and sets itself up against all other nations as superior in language, art, literature, philosophy, civilization, “culture.” Patriotism today is the assertion of one form of mind against other forms of mind…. it may be said that to-day capitalism, anti-semitism and… Read More Julien Benda: Our age is the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds

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Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism. By Peter E. Gordon

‘Some have to play the game because they cannot otherwise live, and those who could live otherwise are kept out because they do not want to play the game’ Seventy years after its publication, Theodor Adorno’s Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism      Minima Moralia is a work of exile. Published just over… Read More Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism. By Peter E. Gordon

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Martha Nussbaum: On not hating the body

Consider the elaborate flight stratagem of Western metaphysics, where body-hatred reigned supreme (though not uncontested) for about two millennia. One might have thought that the obvious theoretical position was in the vicinity of Aristotle’s: we are animate bodies, and the soul is the living organization of our matter. And yet what amazing contortions others, and… Read More Martha Nussbaum: On not hating the body

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Albert Camus's lecture 'The Human Crisis', New York, March 1946. 'No cause justifies the murder of innocents'

The morning after a great historical crisis, you feel as sad and sick as after a heavy night. But there is no aspirin for historical hangovers .. The world is no longer divided into the just or unjust, but into masters and slaves. He who is right is he who enslaves. Albert Camus    La crise… Read More Albert Camus's lecture 'The Human Crisis', New York, March 1946. 'No cause justifies the murder of innocents'

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Professor Hubert Dreyfus: Dostoyevsky on how to Save the Sacred from Science / Leszek Kolakowski: The Revenge of the Sacred in secular culture

In The Brothers Karamazov one of the monks tells Alyosha that “the science of this world has … analyzed everything divine handed down to us in the holy books. After this cruel analysis the learned of this world have nothing left of all that was sacred of old.” The Brothers Karamazov is Dostoyevsky’s answer to… Read More Professor Hubert Dreyfus: Dostoyevsky on how to Save the Sacred from Science / Leszek Kolakowski: The Revenge of the Sacred in secular culture

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Andha Yug (Dharamvir Bharati, 1953) / धर्मवीर भारती लिखित नाटक 'अन्धा युग'

That day the world descended into the age of darkness which has no end, and repeats itself over and over again. Every moment the Lord dies somewhere or the other every moment the darkness grows deeper and deeper. The age of darkness has seeped into our very souls. There is darkness, and there is Ashwatthama, and… Read More Andha Yug (Dharamvir Bharati, 1953) / धर्मवीर भारती लिखित नाटक 'अन्धा युग'

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What is romantic friendship? By Sukaina Hirji and Meena Krishnamurthy

Deep and lasting connection comes in many forms: we need a new vocabulary to talk about love.   The 20th-century novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch had a profound love for her closest friend, the philosopher, Philippa Foot. The two women first met when they were students taking classes in philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford. They remained friends for… Read More What is romantic friendship? By Sukaina Hirji and Meena Krishnamurthy

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