Month: July 2011

• July 11, 2011

  An image of the Kantian sublime; or, how philosophy gets underway

  What are the conditions necessary for philosophy to get under way? An image comes to mind: that of the Kantian sublime. An image of a man standing on the shoreline. He looks out to sea. The water is churning; his discomfort rising. Just now the sky is darkening, the scene ominous and stirring. It’s an…
• July 9, 2011

  On the question of political decay

  I’m reading Francis Fukuyama’s The Origins of Political Order. Of less interest is his conclusion (he plucked it from his End of History book: namely, that the rule of law, the modern state, and the consent of the governed are the 3 pillars of modern political society), of greater interest his question of “political decay.”…
• July 8, 2011

  Traveling notes

  Airport culture shock. NYC still a walking culture. At airport, breathless. Barely breathe. Very, very, very fat. Grotesquery of broken bodies. Impending health care epidemic. Fear & trembling. Agriculture and dehumanization. Manning, in Against the Grain, traces problems w/ food back to the beginnings of agriculture 10,000 yrs. ago. Epochal change from hunter-gatherer to agricultural.…
• July 7, 2011

  From GDP to happiness

  Great new essays and projects on happiness as a better measure of economic well-being than GDP. Among many others, see Carol Graham, “The Pursuit of Happiness,” Brookings Institute; Umair Haque, “Is a Well-Lived Life Worth Anything,” Harvard Business Review Blog Sustainable Seattle Happiness Initiative.
• July 6, 2011

  On hovering parents & tea-cup children

  Best overview I’ve read on helicopter parents. Period. Truly a must-read for all parents raising their children to “be happy” and to avoid disappointment. The paradox? We’re getting tea-cup children and young adults. Article should be read alongside Franzen’s Freedom. Also alongside the literature on “emerging adulthood.”  The chief problems with the essay? 1. No…