Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), Ames & Hall
In initiating a close reading of the Daoist (Taoist) classic the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) on the part of my discussion group the Washington Philosophy Circle, I discovered this new translation by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall, who, as it turns out, are major peddlers of ancient Chinese philosophy retooled for [...]
February-April 2007 reading review
I have long delayed summarizing the books I read in all or part from February through April 2007, partly in hope of writing extensive reviews of some of them. For now, I will just list the books and some other materials, and I can always return and delve into more detail at a future date. [...]
Rorty’s ideology: Achieving Our Country
[Deepening Democracy in Global Contexts, Chapter One] Achieving Our Country, Achieving Our World: Baldwin, Rorty, and Social Hope Judith M. Green, Fordham University If anything shows up the ideological nature and ultimate uselessness of pragmatism, this review does, first, by exposing the selective attention, nostalgia, myth-making and wish-fulfillment upon which Rorty’s social vision rests, and [...]
Tavis Smiley meets Eddie Glaude: Black pragmatism in action
27 March 2007: Glaude: He is a professor of religion at Princeton University, “with research interests that include African American religious history and its place in American public life. Glaude was mentored by Dr. Cornel West as a Princeton grad student and has written/edited several books. In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics [...]
Cornel West blurbs Tavis Smiley
I wrote this on 15 January 2007, Martin Luther King’s birthday: Tavis Smiley interviews Cornel West, Jan 12, 2007 Cornel blurbs Tavis: I think that when it comes to mass media, this particular show enacts the legacy because what you have been able to do, Tavis. The reason why I believe you’re the most brilliant [...]
Paremiology
I just discovered that paremiology is the study of proverbs. Without naming this as a field of study myself, in one way or another I’ve occupied myself with this genre. Perhaps my first contact with what others had to say about it was through Esperanto. Zamenhof, who created the language, authored a book, Proverbaro, which [...]
Pragmatism Blues
“. . . the Americans are worlds behind in all theoretical things, and while they did not bring over any medieval institutions from Europe they did bring over masses of medieval traditions, English common (feudal) law, superstition, spiritualism, in short every kind of imbecility which was not directly harmful to business and which is now [...]
