Author: Andrew Taggart

• December 16, 2011

  On love, death, and um’s

  Imagine, if you will, a fully lived life. Having what you need and loving what you should. No more, no less, no other. * I read the last lines of George Whitman’s life and thus fell in love with a dead man. Whitman, 98, was a famous bookseller whose three floor shop was set down…
• December 15, 2011

  What is civil society and why does this matter?

  I’m currently finishing a personal essay entitled “In Search of a Middle Style for a Convivial Civil Society.” In it, I’m trying to make sense of how civil society is changing and of how I’m able to make a decent living as a result. I’ve included a small part below on the concept of civil…
• December 14, 2011

  Brand naming: Thinking differently

  The inner circle of brand doyens at Lexicon (I almost wrote Lexipro, then almost quipped about Lexi-con) is exploring car names that could become impactful brands in a twenty-first century green economy. In “Famous Names: Does it Matter What a Product is Called?” (The New Yorker, October 3, 2011), the writer John Colapinto listens in:…
• 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…