In Ghosh’s first novel “Circle of Reason,” extreme rationality is shown to be blinkered and vulnerable. In the end, it must be blended with pragmatism, a good lesson for today’s politics.
Tag Archives: Idealism
Wanted: A Pragmatic Idealism
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Amitav Ghosh, Circle of Reason, Democratic Party, Donald Trump Comments closed
My Brief Flirtation with Lyndon LaRouche
Wednesday Here’s a story that most people missed but that registered with me: Lyndon LaRouche died last week at 97. I was never a “LaRouchie,” but for a few months as a graduate student I took his ideas seriously. That’s until I discovered he was a fanatic. I learned about LaRouche from a friend who […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aristotle, empiricism, Lyndon LaRouche, Neo-Platonism, Platonism Comments closed
Selling Your Child on Idealism
Should parents, knowing what the world is like, encourage their children’s idealism. Maggie Smith takes on this question in an entertaining poem.
Young Idealists, Become Sam Spade
David Brooks recommends that young idealists toughen up a la Sam Spade.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Dashiell Hammett, Maltese Falcon, politics, Sam Spade Comments closed
Your Friendly Neighborhood Serial Killer
Film Friday Today, in a slight departure, I am writing on a television series rather than a film, one that has gripped me for months. My love affair came to a crashing end last week, however, and I have resolved never to watch another episode. Since I tell my students that negative viewing experiences are […]
Tolstoy, the Novelist vs. the Activist
One thing I appreciate about the New York Times is that many of its columnists routinely mention literature. Maureen Dowd probably does so the most (note this passing reference to T. S. Eliot’s Wasteland), and I once wrote a column on Roger Cohen’s use of The Great Gatsby in a piece on President Obama. (Cohen wrote […]
Mr. Chips vs. Travis Bickle
Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle I continue here my discussion of three works that just happened to come together during one evening last week: John Updike’s novel Terrorist, Martin Scorcese’s film Taxi Driver, and George Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man. My question is whether Shaw’s humanism is a sufficient answer to the undercurrent […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arms and the Man, George Bernard Shaw, John Updike, Martin Scorcese, Taxi Driver, Terrorism, Terrorist Comments closed
Idealism Under Siege, Irony to the Rescue
The Princess Bride, True Love Triumphant In my Tom Jones class earlier this week, one of my students (Erin Hendrix) noted that one of the passages made her think of a scene in the movie The Princess Bride. This led to a discussion of how both works employ irony to help us hold on to […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Henry Fielding, Irony, Princess Bride, Tom Jones, Umberto Eco Comments closed
Using Gullibility as a Shield vs. Disillusion
In Book I of Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver lives in a world where he can be “above it all.” He can afford to be open-minded and generous because most issues don’t really affect him. Although he is, as his name suggests, gullible, it is gullibility that he can get away with. I stress this point because […]
