Noam Chomsky, giant of contemporary thought and inventor of transformational grammar and computational linguistics, has a new book out and it’s mercifully on linguistics, not politics. The core idea in his new monograph is that humans understand language hierarchically, an … Continue reading
I was convinced by this biographical and literary study, of three things. One, Virginia Woolf was sexually abused by her half-brother, George Duckworth, and two, that her alleged madness was a depressed and confused reaction to that childhood trauma (along … Continue reading
Between the World and Me is a brief autobiography, from the author’s early childhood to present-day adulthood, although it is marketed as a series of letters to his fifteen-year-old son about race in America. That’s a brilliant device, for it … Continue reading
Musical Revelations Winter, Robert, & Martin, Robert (Eds.) (1994). The Beethoven Quartet Companion. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 300 pp. There are few finer pleasures in life than to listen to a recording of Beethoven’s string quartets, while reading … Continue reading
Cute Kittens Sell Books! Lamb, Kristen (2013). Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World. Ebook: WANA International ISBN: 1938848322. Lamb is a well-known social media guru for writers and this book offers advice on how to establish and … Continue reading
“Nothing can be meaningfully affirmed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche Geuss, Raymond, &Speirs, Ronald (Eds.) (1999). Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. The main Nietzschean text presented in this book is The Birth of … Continue reading
Farewell to Religion? Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 874 pp. $40, ISBN 9780674026766 Charles Taylor, eminent, prize-winning philosopher, asks this question: “…Why was it virtually impossible not to believe in God … Continue reading
Adams, W. A. (2006). Is There A Knife That Can Cut Itself? [Review of the book, Subjectivity and Selfhood]. PsycCRITIQUES- Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, September 20, 2006 Vol. 51 (38), Article 18. Retrieved September 20, 2006 from the PsycCRITIQUES … Continue reading
Almost Tricked by David Hume Broadie, Alexander (2001/2007). The Scottish Enlightenment. Edinburgh: Berlinn Limited. The importance of the European Enlightenment, from 1500 to 1800, can hardly be overestimated in Western history. During that period, there was a sea-change in thinking … Continue reading
Adams, W. A. (2007). Does Campaign Information Affect Your Vote? [Review of the book, How Voters Decide: Information Processing During Election Campaigns]. PsycCRITIQUES—Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, (May 30, 2007, Vol. 52, Release 22, Article 17).Retrieved May 30, 2007 from … Continue reading