Tag Archives: Leon Wieseltier

Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons Get a Towel Snap

From Leon Wieseltier at The New Republic: At the conclusion of his poems about the rescue of the Ghent Altarpiece [from a salt mine after WWII], Kirstein wrote: “How marble molds itself into flesh, paint kindles gold in shafts / Makes me witness salvation … Continue reading

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A Bit of Advice on Translation from Leon Wieseltier

Leon Wieseltier, annoyed by what he regards as a dreadful translation of the Haggadah, offers an important distinction for would-be translators to consider: All translation is interpretation, since it is a choice among meanings; but translation is not the same … Continue reading

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Collective Guilt Watch: If Muslims are Responsible for Osama Bin Laden, Are Anti-Muslim Bloggers Responsible For Anders Behring Breivik?

Anders Behring Breivik—the Norwegian who recently went on a Christian nationalist inspired rampage, murdering over 90 of his fellow citizens in Norway—immersed himself in the rhetoric of anti-Muslim blogs where Muslims are routinely tarred with collective guilt for such things as 9/11. The question is thus … Continue reading

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Islam is Not a Religion of Peace, But Cordoba House Should Be Built Anyway: Leon Wieseltier on Islam’s Responsibility for 9/11

At the New Republic today, Leon Wieseltier, the magazine’s literary editor and one of my all-time favorite essayists, makes an excellent distinction that I would endorse: he writes that, while he is prepared to release Muslims of collective guilt for 9/11, he is not prepared to … Continue reading

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“It is the intellectual duty of the citizen to search for the warrant for his views, to raise opinions into beliefs by means of reasons”: Leon Wieseltier on Reason and Democratic Citizenship

Leon Wieseltier in the New Republic: Democracy is the most mentally arduous form of government. No other system stands or falls on the quality of the individual’s opinions. The pressures upon the formation of opinion are staggering, and they interfere … Continue reading

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Crying (Softly) in the Wilderness?: Leon Wieseltier (Mildly) Channels John Ruskin

In the “Washington Diarist” column of the August 27 New Republic, Leon Wieseltier expresses angst at the direction of contemporary American culture, and is unimpressed by all of our contemporary whiz-bang technological advancement, asserting that things of real value have been dying—and are … Continue reading

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