Author: Andrew Taggart
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Is therapy a waste of time (and money)?
The answer, according to the psychiatrist Richard Friedman in his recent NYT op-ed entitled “When Self-Knowledge is Only the Beginning,” might very well be “yes.” In the article, he argues (1) that insight into one’s past may be neither necessary nor sufficient for living well and, more polemically, (2) that such insight might actually make your…
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Russell Jacoby pans Erik Olin Wright’s book on ‘real utopias’
For those unfamiliar with Jacoby or his writings, you’re in for a treat. Jacoby’s prose is clear, punchy, and witty. Here are a few choice examples: “To call this book dull as dish water maligns dish water.” “Wright is no genius,” and “the book is suffocatingly narrow in scope, impossibly cramped in imagination, and irreparably muddy…
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On the category of emerging adulthood; or, how 20 somethings are wasting their lives
A Polemic There’s been a lot of talk of late about 20 somethings. Discussions have ranged from their carnivorous tastes in social media to their open attitude toward sexuality to their desire for self-esteem. By my lights, the most interesting discussion has centered on a new category of individual development: emerging adulthood. According to Jeffrey…
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Reason follows in fortune’s train
“Fortune is often found in Reason’s train.” Montaigne, Essays For years, I’ve been stuck. I haven’t been able to make much progress in my estimation of the relative merits of Stoicism and tragedy. One of the goals of Stoicism is to immunize the practicing Stoic against luck (tuche). Since external goods are beyond his…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 