Feb 23The Menu Left a Bad Taste in My MouthImagine convincing a psychopath not to kill you by ordering a #5 with fries. Really, imagine anything in this movie plausibly happening. It’s slim pickings. I get that The Menu is supposed to be satire, I just don’t think it’s done very well. Or maybe it’s that it’s overdone. Sort…4 min read4 min read
May 21, 2022Dialectic of Enlightenment: Adorno and Horkheimer on the Contradictions of Modernity“Dialectic of Enlightenment” is a provocative essay collection addressing the so-called Age of Enlightenment and its counterintuitive impact on society. Written by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, two German Jewish intellectuals living in exile in New York, the text was officially published in 1947, but had been circulated among friends…Philosophy6 min readPhilosophy6 min read
Feb 7, 2022An Introduction to Herbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse was a French leftist intellectual who, as a key member of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, synthesized the ideas of Marx and Freud in explaining the impact of capitalism on the modern psyche. Born in Berlin on July 19, 1898 to an upper-middle class German Jewish family…Philosophy8 min readPhilosophy8 min read
Dec 7, 2021An Introduction to Antonio GramsciBorn with a spinal malformation in 1891 on the Italian island of Sardinia, Antonio Gramsci was the fourth of seven children, all boys. A bright mind from the start, Gramsci suspended his schooling at age seven to support his family after his father was jailed by the Sardinian government, ostensibly…Philosophy6 min readPhilosophy6 min read
Sep 12, 2021An Introduction to John Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill was an English philosopher who devoted his life to the cause of utilitarianism: the ethical vision that society should be governed in a manner that maximizes happiness for the greatest number. Mill was born May 20, 1806 in a London suburb. His father James was an…Philosophy11 min readPhilosophy11 min read
Jun 11, 2021An Introduction to Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, political theorist, novelist, and musician active in 18th century Europe. Often grouped together with his Enlightenment contemporaries, Rousseau was in fact suspicious of the notion of progress, drawing attention to the ways in which modern society corrupts the natural goodness of humanity. His writings…Philosophy11 min readPhilosophy11 min read
May 24, 2021An Introduction to John LockeJohn Locke was an English philosopher from the 17th century whose writings revolutionized both epistemology and politics. His tabula rasa theory of the mind as a blank slate popularized the modern empiricist notion that all knowledge is derived from experience, while his writings on freedom and tyranny informed the Declaration…Political Theory10 min readPolitical Theory10 min read
Apr 27, 2021An Introduction to Thomas HobbesThomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who wrote during the 17th century. He was active in physics, geometry, law, history, and translation studies, among other fields, but is best remembered for pioneering social contract theory, which posits that society begins when individuals agree to subordinate their freedom to an authority…Political Theory6 min readPolitical Theory6 min read
Mar 29, 2021An Introduction to William JamesWilliam James was a 19th century American philosopher who co-founded the school of pragmatism, which presents truth as contextual and useful rather than universal and certain. Born into a wealthy family, he was delivered on January 11, 1842 at the Astor House, the first luxury hotel in New York City…Philosophy10 min readPhilosophy10 min read
Feb 20, 2021An Introduction to René DescartesRené Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician of the 17th century. During his lifetime, he participated in a variety of fields, notably optics, geometry, and astronomy. He was the first to publish a text on the laws of refraction, or what governs the bending of light as it…Philosophy7 min readPhilosophy7 min read
