Jim Barcelona's Philosophy and Food Blog - Books

The End of Cynicism?

nospam@example.com (barce) — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 19:49:06 +0000

I'm currently reading A Critique of Cynical Reason by Peter Sloterdijk. His critique probes the shattering of ideals and the selling out of a generation, those who were in their 20s in the 60s. He asks the hard question of "Why be practical when the practices are corrupt?" He also asks, "Why be cynical when life's capacity for surprise is greater than any world view?"

This is pretty good stuff, and I'll be reading it in the Crocker Galleria somewhere.

Done with Thucydides

nospam@example.com (barce) — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 06:01:06 +0000

I've read it all - all 8 books of Thucydides' Peloponnesian War, and no work has wounded me so deeply. Is it really all just about power?

I mentioned Thucydides earlier

Gadamer's "Truth and Method"

nospam@example.com (barce) — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 02:36:11 +0000

I picked up this tome a few nights ago, and so far from just reading the introduction, I think I'll get a really interesting orientation towards art. There are pages about play and players. (102 - 110)

Here are a few things that struck me in the introduction:

He wants to "demonstrate how much there is of event effective in all understanding." (xxii)

He holds that "the experience of art is the most insistent admonition to scientific consciousness to acknowledge its own limits." (Ibid.)

He wishes to meet the demand for a new critical consciousness. (xxiv)