Times Literary Supplement: On cultural appropriation
Compliment or theft? At a literary festival in Brisbane last year, Lionel Shriver faced a backlash when she argued that accusations of cultural appropriation threatened “our right to write fiction … Continue reading
The Economist’s 1843: The malleability of our minds
A new show about consciousness takes a terrifying look at how scientists, philosophers and artists deal with “the hard problem” In the 17th century, Descartes famously argued that the body … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: Does philosophy have to be obscure?
I recently went to a public lecture at LSE hosted by the Forum for European Philosophy. The discussion was entitled “Does philosophy have to be obscure?” It struck me as … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: Where there is no why
Like the tales told to Dante by the souls he meets in The Divine Comedy, literature provides us with mirrors to discover our own secret features, Alberto Manguel argues. The … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: No strings attached
In Heinrich von Kleist’s essay The Puppet Theatre, published in 1810, the character Mr C wanders through a public park, where he meets the recently appointed first dancer of the … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: How to be an intellectual
“Journalism and scholarship usually inhabit different planets”, Jeffrey J. Williams writes. Journalists and academics have different gods and languages. While journalists favour speed, paying homage to Hermes, scholars look to … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: Book Review of Simon Blackburn’s “Mirror Mirror”
Simon Blackburn credits L’Oréal’s slogan, “because you’re worth it”, as a source of outrage and inspiration for Mirror, Mirror: The uses and abuses of self-love. Drawing on the myth on Narcissus, … Continue reading
Standpoint Magazine: Beards need not apply
Women who engage in public speaking are seen as “freakish androgynes”, argued classics professor Mary Beard in her recent London Review of Books speech at the British Library. Throughout the centuries … Continue reading
Times Literary Supplement: Book Review of Martha Nussbaum’s “Political Emotions”
“The public culture needs to be nourished and sustained by something that lies deep in the human heart and taps its most powerful sentiments, including both passion and humor”, Martha … Continue reading
Philosophy Now Magazine: What did Mary know?
Imagine a girl called Mary. She is a brilliant neuroscientist and a world expert on colour vision. But because she grew up entirely in a black and white room, she … Continue reading
