Category: politics
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Sageliness within or kingliness without
I am reading Yu-Lan Fang’s A Short History of Chinese Philosophy alongside Plato’s Republic. According to Fang, the leitmotif of Chinese philosophy is that of ‘sageliness within’ and ‘kingliness without.’ Plato speaks similarly of the Philosopher-King as being the one who, just because he has wisdom, is also fit to rule. Years ago, I believed that the philosopher…
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Prefab lives? Prefab’s lost question
After the housing crisis, prefab homes have been making a reappearance. ‘Prefab lives!,’ Allison Arieff proclaims jubilantly. For green builders, the venture is to see whether the best of industrial design and manufacturing can be put in service of a sustainable mission. Questions soon turn technical: how to cut costs; how to use green materials;…
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How can a man embody manliness after three waves of feminism? (Part 2)
Two modern male figures show us, respectively, excess and defect. The Brawny Man, uncouth and with a fiery temper, distorts the right disposition of manliness just as much as the Sensitive Man, who collects vintage records and has a soft, pliable body. One’s powers of observation needn’t be taxed in order to perceive that many…
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How can a man embody manliness after three waves of feminism? (Part 1)
First wave feminism, beginning in the late nineteenth century, called into question the idea that women were especially well-suited for running household affairs and thus were ill-suited to taking an active part in the affairs of the city. Hence, the shift effected: from private anonymity to public visibility. Around the 1960s during the Vietnam Era,…
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Lacking awe is disaster, having awe is reverence
This series of reflections begins with the post entitled ‘The World does not Need Saving’ (September 17ff). * Either one learns to perceive the world as being good and beautiful, or one takes the world to be ugly and unjust. The first is the contemplative path, one that requires a lifetime of philosophizing in order…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 