Huenemanniac

That “Back to Nietzsche” post set off a firefight (a philosophically friendly one, I hope), and one of the issues that came up has to do with the relation between naturalism and metaphysics. “Naturalism” can mean many things, but one widespread meaning in philosophy is this: naturalism is the view that contemporary science is (roughly)… Continue reading

Here is a “jaw-dropping” short lecture by Craig Venter on what’s going on in contemporary genomics. Fascinating stuff, especially to me, since my wife Jeannine just got a job with a genomics center on campus. (We say she’s working on the “Huenemann Jeanninome” project.) Looks pretty clear that creating artifical life isn’t too far away. Continue reading

Provocative passage from Nietzsche, Human, all too Human: For this reason a higher culture must give to man a double-brain, as it were two brain ventricles, one for the perceptions of science, the other for those of non-science: lying beside one another, not confused together, separable, capable of being shut off; this is the demand… Continue reading

See his reasoning here. Compelling (though I was pro-Obama to begin with). Continue reading

Here’s a different analogy, meant to be a little closer to the truth than the last one. Imagine a tough neighborhood, say in the Bronx. The police are all on permanent holiday. Chaos ensues — rioting, looting, etc. — but eventually a few gangs emerge as dominant, and one in particular is truly Dominant. They… Continue reading

I have been reading Tom Barnett’s latest book, Blueprint for Action (see his blog here). He is much more hawkish than I have been, but then again knows a helluva lot more than I do about the international situation. It’s forced me to try to educate myself a little bit about foreign policy matters —… Continue reading

I’m pleased to report that Understanding Rationalism is now in the top 409,000 in sales at amazon.com! Woo-hoo! When will the movie be out?! Continue reading

I have been looking for a site that provides meaty information about Presidential candidates’ views, and this might be it. You can see the voting records and summaries of remarks made by each candidate on various issues. Be sure to scroll toward the bottom of each candidate’s page, since there is a useful summary of… Continue reading

The Nz book is coming along. I have a draft of the “Overture,” which is an overview of his life and philosophy; a draft of “Act I,” which is about the misty romantic metaphysics lying being Birth of Tragedy and Untimely Meditations — roughly, the idea is that Greek drama and Wagnerian opera both have… Continue reading

Once there was a man in a forest with a hammer, nails, and 23 pieces of lumber. The forest was thick and it was hard to see through it. So he started hammering some of the lumber onto a nearby tree, and made a ladder. He used up all 23 pieces, and wasn’t very far… Continue reading

Here is an interesting review of a book which links up to the question of culture. Apparently, the book claims that academics in cultural studies have brought a kind of “democracy” to the study of culture, which is good in some ways, since no one is likely to get excluded, but bad in some ways,… Continue reading

Mike asked about my view regarding Nz’s view toward other people. (Or “the Other” as some people like to say, but I’m not sure what that means if it doesn’t means “other people”). So here goes. Biographically, Nz wasn’t always a loner. He had a small circle of friends in high school, joined a fraternity… Continue reading

Here is a link to a long and excellent essay about the different worlds of professor and student of today. The first couple paragraphs set the stage: At the beginning of school last fall, I ran into a student on the University of Virginia Lawn, not far from the famous statue of Homer instructing an… Continue reading

Lately I’ve been working on a chapter on what I’d call “Act 1” in Nz’s life, in which he attempted to bring about a “cultural revolution” of sorts. To motivate the question, I felt I had to begin by examining culture more intuitively, before seeing the heavy burden Nz was to place upon it. Here… Continue reading

I find Jack Handey brilliant and hilarious. Here is his latest essay on how things even out. (Perhaps the funniest line is a sleeper: “Even in the afterlife things probably even out, although I can’t imagine how.” Why do you suppose ‘the afterlife’ was invented in the first place?!) Continue reading

Listen: I know I’m not a poet, but what’s the point of blogging if you can’t throw an amateur attempt out there once in a while? Here goes: A reason for the aliens When the aliens in their shimmery green space suits Finally pin me to the ground and ask me (demand, in fact) To… Continue reading

Mildly amusing link. Continue reading

A recent commenter offered this stunning speculation on the nature of aesthetics by Jorge Luis Borges: “Music, states of happiness, mythology, faces belabored by time, certain twilights and certain places try to tell us something, or have said something we should not have missed, or are about to say something; this imminence of a revelation… Continue reading

Well, I have put the Spinoza/Nietzsche book on the back burner for now. I have found that bashing religion with arguments makes me unhappy, so I’ll let it alone. I’ll work full-force instead on a book on Nietzsche, which was my original plan anyway.  (I may also write a separate book on Spinoza; we’ll see.)… Continue reading

I am working away at a book on Nietzsche, and was about to write a brief synopsis of his revaluation of all values project. He thinks there are genuine values, I think, but they are rooted in health, or the perspective of life, and not in any transcendent moral truths. Basically, to be healthy, you… Continue reading

Reminders like this are important, lest we forget just how outrageous our current government is. Continue reading

Interesting essay here. Jacoby claims that academics over the last generation have become increasingly isolated, and blogs are nothing more than private journals broadcast with a megaphone. (Also a bit shaming, as here I am blogging about it!) UPDATE: Here is a related essay by Stanley Fish, on the topic of “what’s the use of… Continue reading

“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing… Continue reading