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Andrea Fraser "Museum Highlights" (1989); via Frans Hals Museum It's that time of year again when someone in Atlanta writes about arts journalism, this time from my friend, Andrew Alexander. Andrew asks readers of the Saporta Report to imagine an Atlanta without arts journalism. And, as is the custom, there are generalized complaints from folks …
Continue reading "Why Do You Think You Want More Art Criticism?"
Wesley Morris wrote an essay worth considering for The New York Times Magazine in which he diagnoses some cultural activities of the recent years. Morris terms our moment as being caught in "Morality Wars," which he links to the "Culture Wars" of the 1980s and 90s. The NYTM website has the header text for this …
There is an enlightening bit of journalism about the Qanon phenomenon written by Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins over at NBCnews.com that has prompted me to write this morning. I'm not familiar with the specifics of the conspiracy being unfurled by the Qanon media ecosystem, but I do like a good conspiracy. This is in part …
The International Society for Chinese Philosophy (ISCP) plans to host two panel sessions at the 2019 Eastern Division Meeting of American Philosophical Association (APA) on January 7-10 in New York City, NY. The ISCP will be co-sponsoring a special session with the Karl Jaspers Society of North America (KJSNA) at the APA Eastern this year. …
Our course is now turning its attention to a simple question: how do we know? In this section of the course we'll be considering responses to this simple question presented by René Descartes (born in France in 1596, died in Sweden in 1650), John Locke (born in England in 1632, died there in 1704), George …
In this chapter from Talking to Strangers, Dr. Allen points out that: In political controversies, there will always be logical arguments for a counterposition, on the basis of exactly the same facts. In this circumstance, no amount of logical argument will determine which speaker to trust. Audiences will turn to assessments of character, and so our …
Continue reading "Danielle Allen’s “Rhetoric, a Good Thing”"
Learning objectives Analyze Socrates'/Plato's theory of learning Discuss role of noumena and phenomena in their argument. What do we recollect? In order to answer this, we must look at the trail left in the dialogue. The initial premises are that souls (ψυχη, psyche) exist and that there is a dimension of Perfection and Truth (this is …
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Week 11, Lecture 1 Learning Objectives Define karma. Explain Buddhism’s Three Marks of Existence. As we mentioned previously, the Prajñaparamita (“perfect wisdom”) sutras were the first sutras to be translated into Chinese. The Prajñaparamita (“perfect wisdom”) sutras represent the earliest layer of Mahayana sutra literature. The Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra belong to a …
Continue reading "The Four Noble Truths and the Three Marks of Existence"
Learning Objectives Discuss extensional objects vs. intentional objects Define ontology We’ve previously discussed philosophical realism and understand that in the realist scheme there is the world we experience (phenomenal) and there is the realm of Truth (noumenal). According to this mode of thinking, we cannot experience things-in-themselves because what they truly are, their noumenal reality, …
Week 15, Lecture 1 Learning Objectives Discuss differences between hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative Discuss the role of reason in Kant’s principle of universality Let me begin by setting the stage in this way: Kant’s argument for grounding our moral actions in reason is also part of his arguing that we have free will. “‘Ethics …
