archive

Philosophy, Communism and violence, morality and science, motherhood and more

When politics turned pragmatic: A review of Reason of State, Propaganda, and the Thirty Years War: An Unknown Translation by Thomas Hobbes. The Philosopher of Our Times: A review of John Rawls's posthumously published Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy. In "How to Understand Politics: What the Humanities Can Say to Science," Harvey Mansfield shows with wit and verve how our seemingly apolitical science has blinded us to the quintessentially political quality of spiritedness, which, with a bow to Plato and Aristotle, he calls thumos.

A review of books by and an interview with Mary Midgley. Another think coming After decades in the analytical wilderness, philosophy is breaking out of its ivory tower to re-engage itself with real-life concerns. Human rights begin in small places, and close to home, said Mary Ann Glendon, president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences.

From WSWS, a review of two Trotsky biographies by Geoffrey Swain and Ian Thatcher (and part 2). The Marx Memorial Library in central London, set up in 1933 in response to the Nazi book burnings in Germany, is at the centre of a row that pays testimony to the enduring ability of communists to indulge in internecine warfare. The Nazi Chronicles: Closed for decades, the world's largest Holocaust archive now reveals its secrets.The Jewish Writings by Hannah Arendt argues, persuasively, that understanding the political theorist’s Jewish identity is essential to understanding her entire body of work, and on how power cannot come of violence by Arendt. A review of The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo.

A review of Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong. A review of The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, and an interview with Natalie Angier. Creating a canon for science: Stop being so afraid, says Angier, and here are science facts you should already know.

From H-Net, a review of Sex Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2002. Adultery shouldn't be boring: A review of Lust in Translation: The Rules of Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee by Pamela Druckerman (and more). A review of One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding.

Mother's Day is a lie: Its rituals are stale and its practices disgusting, but she goes through the motions anyway. Happy Non-Mother’s Day! A review of Nobody’s Mother: Life Without Kids. A review of By the Secret Ladder: A Mother's Initiation; Journey to the Darkside: Supermom Goes Home; Wiped! Life with a Pint-Size Dictator; Momzillas: A Novel; and Good Enough Mother: The Perfectly Imperfect Book of Parenting.

A review of Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction is Changing Men, Women, and the World (and an interview with Liza Mundy). Genetic Testing + Abortion = ??? The right to choose, and the right to screen for sex, cancer genes or smarts. And from Newsweek, (Rethinking) Gender: How those who believe they were born with the wrong bodies are forcing us to re-examine what it means to be male and female