Philosophy

Fichte’s Way Fichte’s Way

Johann Gottlieb Fichte undertook a pure search for truth. He also distrusted international markets. Does that make him an ancestor to anti-globalization activists?

Aug 13, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Michael Rosen

‘Atlantic Rim’: Chomsky v. Zizek

‘Atlantic Rim’: Chomsky v. Zizek ‘Atlantic Rim’: Chomsky v. Zizek

An online dustup between two pop star penseurs shows them staggering through afterlives.

Aug 13, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Clover

Thoreau’s Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry

Thoreau’s Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry Thoreau’s Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry

What would it mean if we were to walk in his footsteps?

May 8, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Wen Stephenson

Nietzsche’s Marginal Children: On Friedrich Hayek

Nietzsche’s Marginal Children: On Friedrich Hayek Nietzsche’s Marginal Children: On Friedrich Hayek

How did the conservative ideas of Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian school become our economic reality? By turning the market into the realm of great politics and morals.

May 7, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Corey Robin

The Trembling Upper World: On Siegfried Kracauer

The Trembling Upper World: On Siegfried Kracauer The Trembling Upper World: On Siegfried Kracauer

The European émigré who became a philosopher of American cinema.

Dec 19, 2012 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

Do You Only Have a Brain? On Thomas Nagel Do You Only Have a Brain? On Thomas Nagel

A philosopher’s broadside against Darwinism and materialism is mostly an instrument of mischief.

Oct 3, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Brian Leiter and Michael Weisberg

The Good European: On Jürgen Habermas The Good European: On Jürgen Habermas

German “ordoliberalism” and Eurocrats have the EU on the brink, but Germany’s most famous philosopher remains optimistic about European democracy.

Jul 10, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Anson Rabinbach

The Higher Bealism: The Moral Limits of Markets The Higher Bealism: The Moral Limits of Markets

Why are moral and political thinkers failing to engage with the true, dispiriting scale of market sovereignty?

Jun 5, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Chris Lehmann

Hemispheric Disturbances: On Michael Gazzaniga

Hemispheric Disturbances: On Michael Gazzaniga Hemispheric Disturbances: On Michael Gazzaniga

If our brains act according to the causal laws governing all matter, in what sense can we be said to be free?

Nov 16, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Cathy Gere

American Idol: On Nietzsche in America

American Idol: On Nietzsche in America American Idol: On Nietzsche in America

Why early twentieth-century Americans—from anarchists to Baptist ministers—fell for the philosophy of Nietzsche.

Nov 1, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Ross Posnock

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