Daily Archives: July 12, 2008

If Barack is a Meteor, Who are the Dinosaurs?: French Philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy’s Take on Obama

Posted on July 12, 2008 by

The French philosopher and biographer of Sartre, Bernard-Henri Levy, has spent a good deal of time thinking and writing about the United States. His most recent book is titled American Vertigo: Travelling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville.   In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Machine Romanticism: Getting Plenty of Iron in the German Diet, 1930s

Posted on July 12, 2008 by

“Hurrah, the butter is all gone!” I like the way this anti-Nazi poster saw through the facade of Hitler’s Germany—and located its driving energies in oral compulsion and cognitive dissonance.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pissing on Baal’s Temple, Burning the School of Socrates, Breaking Icons in Calvin’s Geneva, Blowing Up Buddhas, and Desecrating Crackers: Why PZ Myers Should Apologize—and Why He Probably Won’t

Posted on July 12, 2008 by

Iconoclasm is the destroying of what is held to be sacred by others. And given the disturbing history of iconoclasm throughout human history, it raises the question of how troubled thoughtful people should be by the University of Minnesota biologist, PZ Myers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Determined or Free?: Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s Mother, Amadeus’s Salieri, and Sartre’s Orestes

Posted on July 12, 2008 by

In two places in Part 2 of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Shamash, the Sun God, and father of the Mesopotamian pantheon of gods, is described as one who puts desires in the hearts of men and women. Here is Gilgamesh, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment