Postmodern Conservatism: Rum, Socrates, and the Lasch

In lieu of debate spin (that post is still in the oven), I’d like to weigh in on the Postmodern Conservatism for Dummies thread, since Ms. Crum is right that we could stand to nail the concept down a little more. This stab won’t be nearly as comprehensive as Mr. Hancock’s, nor as . . . . Continue Reading »

Self-Medication and Modernity

Matt Crawford ably explains how college campuses have become incubators of schoolmarmish therapeutic supervision. No longer confident in the mission of higher education and therefore too hobbled to resist becoming an adjunct of popular society versus an engine of . . . . Continue Reading »

Background Reading for POMOCONS

I have heard your requests made for reading that might provide some background to the ideas I’m working out, and I gladly comply.  I have mentioned Martin Heidegger and Leo Strauss - but the former is almost impossible (and evil, by the way, but also indispensible) and the latter himself . . . . Continue Reading »

Court: Suicide Assisters Can Inherit

This is definitely bad policy, but it was probably the right decision by the court: A Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that a relatives who may have assisted a suicide can still inherit from his estate. From the story:The wife and daughter of a Wisconsin man who committed suicide can inherit his . . . . Continue Reading »

Neuroscience and the Poetry of the Soul

Time for  a moment of self-promotion (not entirely shameless—-I’m mildly embarrassed). For those of you who haven’t yet read my short piece on the marriage of reductionist neuroscience and post-modern poetry here at Culture11 , there is also a much longer piece at The . . . . Continue Reading »

Today, We are All Blind Korean Masseurs

Well, not exactly, but if pretending to be part of a group is really the only way to express solidarity with anyone anymore, I guess I’ll roll with it. For those incurious souls who didn’t find it necessary to follow the CNN headline Blind Masseurs Jump from Bridge , the facts are . . . . Continue Reading »

Reno On Kerouac

I hated Jack Kerouac’s On The Road when I read it in my early teens. I expected a carefree romp that would glamorize and endorse antinomian adventures such as I hoped to have. Instead I found a disorienting and melancholy book—all hangover and no high. In ” The End of the Road . . . . Continue Reading »

More on the Financial Crisis

In addition to my article on Secretary Paulson’s plan to bailout the credit markets, ROFTERS looking for further guidance on these issues may want to watch the video from a panel several of my colleagues and I at the Villanova Law School did on the crisis earlier this week. The speakers . . . . Continue Reading »