Month: December 2011

• December 13, 2011

  An Auerbachian theory of literary style and social change

  Can one deduce a theory of literary style and social change from Erich Auerbach’s book Mimesis? Yes, and not with too much straining. One could think of a new style as coming into being and becoming settled in four distinct moments. The First Moment: Doxa. The style (or suite of styles: I will use the singular…
• December 12, 2011

  Can a 4-year-old be wise?

  Point blank: No. But perceptive? Quite. A.’s Ruminations on Metaphysics  In the following dialogue, A. is a 4-year-old boy and B. is his mother and one of my conversation partners. A: You know what, Mom? B: Yes, A. A: Well, when all the people die, when people die, other things live. B: How did you…
• December 10, 2011

  Synoptic views of the problem of free will

  The question of free will becomes a problem for modern philosophy after the epochal shift in worldview brought about by natural science’s “mechanization” of nature. If the entirety of nature could be explicable in terms of invariant physical laws, then what room, if any, was left in this picture of the universe for an account…
• December 9, 2011

  The alien and the American discuss modern work life (P.S. It’s a joke)

  So the alien has scheduled an appointment with the American in order to compare notes about work life on their respective planets. This is what they said. Alien: On my planet, we have ‘companies’ that occupy physical spaces known as ‘office buildings.’ American: Yeah, we have those too. Alien: Also. On my planet, we have…
• December 8, 2011

  Oh, to hell with work/life balance

  Wouldn’t it be nice to get your work life back into balance? (This, my friends, is known as the hook. You read it on the subway, see it on the tele, hear it on the old time radio, and it gets ya.) Now that you’re grabbed: These days, oh these days, my friends, people just…