Twenty-four years ago today, on June 25, 1984, Michel Foucault died in Paris, France. In an interview with Lé Magazine Littéraire, barely a month before his passing, Foucault remarked: “The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field,…
Read MorePace the author of Ecclesiastes, every once in a while we find that there is, in fact, something new under the sun. As evindence, I refer you to the political philosophy blog Public Reason, where Simon Keller (Philosophy, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) recently offered what I find to be a remarkably original “Thought…
Read MoreFor those of you following the battle between Chet and me over the merits (and demerits) of Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, There Will Be Blood, you mght be interested to learn that our argument has spilled over onto another blog. See Chet’s response, “Diegesis, etc.” for more of the not-yet-bloody action.
Read MoreThe Washington Post reported this weekend that “3 in 10 Americans Admit to Race Bias.” It’s fairly amusing to watch this little piece cycle through the news channels today. Some of the reporters are saying “30% of Americans admit to race bias” like this: “Oh. My. God. There are RACISTS in this country! This is…
Read MoreSince I’m spending most of my days writing about philosophy, I’ve decided to limit my writing on this blog to the topic of film for a little while. Today, the subject is another one of my favorites, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford (soundtrack, funny enough, by Burt Bacharach)….
Read MoreIn my last post, I praised the skill and acumen of director Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver, which I think is one of his best films. In a rather serendipitous turn of events, I also watched on television that same night the American Film Institute’s 10 Top 10, which listed the top ten films in ten…
Read MoreI just watched There Will Be Blood (2007), the Paul Thomas Anderson film adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! about a small Texas village that becomes a boomtown in the crude oil rush of the early twentieth century. Daniel Day-Lewis won an Academy Award for his performance as Daniel Plainview, the story’s tortured protagonist, and…
Read More[NOTE FROM DOCTOR J: I really, really hope it’s obvious that I’m not actually voting Republican.]
Read MoreAbout a month ago, the U.S. Supreme Court almost heard a case from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in which the plaintiffs, South African citizens, sought damages from several American and multi-national corporations for their role in (and profiting from) the perpetuation of apartheid in violation of international law. The Circuit Court had…
Read MoreIt’s Friday the 13th today, and I am superstitious. I realize of course that superstitions like these are totally irrational fears—but fear is a pretty powerful thing. I’ve heard people argue before that fear can be fun and exhilarating, especially in reference to things like roller coasters or haunted houses, but I think they’re making…
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