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Dune at 50
...the planet(s) we live (or might live) on. Herbert wrote about his inspirations: “I find fresh nuances in religions, psychoanalytic theories, linguistics, economics, philosophy, theories of history, geology, anthropology, plant...
Art, Technology, & Early Photography: William Henry Fox Talbot
...“his intellectual curiosity embraced the fields of mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, and botany; philosophy and philology; Egyptology, the classics, and art history.” But it was his artistic impulse that led to...
The History of Cremation in Japan
...not until the end of the Heian period (794-1185), which began shortly after Dosho and Jito’s corpses were burned, that cremation became closely associated with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhist philosophy...
Donald Trump: The Id of Republican Politics
Like any paradox, the rise of Donald Trump to the rank of serious political phenomena requires a certain amount of critical thinking. How else can we begin to approach this...
The Woman Behind “Happy Birthday to You”
...kindergartens provoked furor for their “free style” and philosophy that rather than being a tool to be molded by teachers, children had their own capacity for growth. These beliefs led...
Let Panpsychism Expand Your Mind
...interpreted over-literally. * * * One of the most enduring conflicts in philosophy concerns the so-called “mind-body problem,” the relationship between mind or consciousness (not obviously physical) and brain or...
Ex Machinations in the Turing Test
In the recently released Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, we see a beautiful but ultimately disturbing future on the horizon. It is one where the notion of artificial intelligence...
Greece in Crisis: Foucault and The Nuance of Power
I’m currently on the island of Rhodes in Greece. To quote Pussy Rioter Nadezha Tolokonnikova’s prison letters I write this from a “special economic zone.” There seems to be no...
College Ratings and the Idea of the Liberal Arts
...all students to take multiple courses in philosophy and theology to ensure that they have thought about large questions of God, religion, human nature, and ethics before beginning their careers....
A Marxist Take on FIFA
It is not an easy time to be a football (“soccer”) fan and it hasn’t been for quite a while. The world governing body, the ostentatiously named Fédération Internationale de...