From Around the Web

Feminism, Mental Representation, and Churros

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by Daniel A. Kaufman A disturbing glimpse into the way contemporary gender identity politics is compromising science and medicine. https://quillette.com/2018/10/18/trans-activists-campaign-against-terfs-has-become-an-attack-on-science/ How progressive politics have ruined comedy. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/social-justice-warriors-arent-funny/ A detailed history of the original feminists, which their contemporary progeny should read carefully. https://www.city-journal.org/metoo-movement [The late] Jerry Fodor’s brilliant and hilarious survey of theories of mental representation. (I just finished teaching it […]

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Shakshuka, Mental States, and Iron Maiden

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by Daniel A. Kaufman The flagship feminist philosophy journal, Hypatia, still reeling from the scandal involving its treatment of Rebecca Tuvel, finds itself humiliated once again, this time by a Sokal-style hoax. http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/sokal-hoax-redux.html For those who need a refresher on the Tuvel affair: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/transracialism-article-controversy.html Rare, amazing footage of Iron Maiden from their New Wave of British Heavy Metal days.  (The […]

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Supertramp, Egg Salad and Darwin

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by Daniel A. Kaufman A terrific takedown of the current, narcissistic “self-improvement” madness. https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/why-are-modern-men-obsessed-with-self-improvement/ High quality video of Supertramp playing live in 1979. My dialogue with Justin Weinberg of the Daily Nous on the current state of Philosophy. http://meaningoflife.tv/videos/40774 A deliciously vicious dustup between Patricia Churchland and Colin McGinn.  Plus more from Marcia Cavell and McGinn. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/06/19/brains-and-minds-exchange/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/07/10/blind-to-mind/ The best […]

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Balthus, Poirot, Strudel, and Rakka

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by Daniel A. Kaufman A beautiful documentary about David Suchet’s remarkable portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, for 25 years. A thoughtful, articulate essay on Balthus that is exactly the sort of thing we need more of in today’s rush to “cleanse” history of its “problematic” artists and works. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/06/28/balthus-therese-through-glass-darkly/ The late Jerry Fodor on Kripke, Putnam, modality, and the […]

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Brave New World, 1984, #MeToo, The New Journalism, and Paprikas Csirke

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by Daniel A. Kaufman A remarkable IQ2 debate between novelist Wil Self and New Yorker essayist, Adam Gopnik, on the relative merits of Brave New World and 1984 in understanding our current world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CcclqEiZw&index=11&t=0s&list=FLQzxHWvrODrO9oA35PHXsIQ Interesting reflections on the #MeToo movement and the sexual revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s. https://www.city-journal.org/html/sexual-revolutions-angry-children-15827.html Two of the best documentaries on Hunter S. Thompson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlAZV_EsSSE […]

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Guns, Hardcore, Carnitas and Camp

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by Daniel A. Kaufman One of the best articles I’ve read on America’s gun problem.  Particularly effective is the video which shows what happens when ordinary people, who have been given some gun training of the sort being proposed for school teachers in some districts, are confronted by an active shooter. https://www.vox.com/2015/10/3/9444417/gun-violence-united-states-america = = = Fascinating photo essay on the […]

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When Tennis Ruled the World, Cardiacs, Shawarma, and More

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by Daniel A. Kaufman An amazing documentary on the era in which “Tennis Ruled the World.”  Watching it explains everything about why the sport has become so dull and has lost so much of its public impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssuwOH-HWjc An almost inhuman one-man performance of Genesis songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V7Dqf-FQL4&t=0s&list=FLQzxHWvrODrO9oA35PHXsIQ&index=22 A treasure-trove of papers for free download, by P.M.S. Hacker, one of the […]

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What is it Like to be a Philosopher?, Mass Effect, Israeli-Style Hummus, and More

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by Daniel A. Kaufman Interview with our own Dan Kaufman, over at What is it Like to Be a Philosopher? http://www.whatisitliketobeaphilosopher.com/ Conor Friedersdorf’s take on Cathy Newman’s disastrous interview with Prof. Jordan Peterson, on Britain’s Channel 4, gets at the heart of what is wrong with contemporary public discourse. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/putting-monsterpaint-onjordan-peterson/550859/ Ian Ground on Why Wittgenstein Matters, at the Royal Institute […]

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