Philosophy & Religion

"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think." — Lorraine Hansberry

Friends Like These: On Thoreau and Emerson
Daegan Miller reviews Jeffrey S. Cramer’s new book about the friendship of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Daegan MillerJun 24, 2019
Blowing the Philosopher’s Fuses: Michel Foucault’s LSD Trip in the Valley of Death
James Penner takes a trip through “Foucault in California” by Simeon Wade, which chronicles the day when a great French philosopher blew his mind.
James PennerJun 17, 2019
- Memoir & Essay
- Philosophy & Religion
Jewish Identity on the Move
David Lipset reviews two new essay collections about Jewish identity, "Freud and Monotheism" and "Jews and the Ends of Theory."
David LipsetJun 16, 2019
- Philosophy & Religion
- Religion
One Feels a Malady: On Robert N. Watson’s “Cultural Evolution and its Discontents”
William Flesch reviews "Cultural Evolution and its Discontents: Cognitive Overload, Parasitic Cultures, and the Humanistic Cure."
William FleschJun 7, 2019
The Customer Is Wrong: The Commodity and the Work of Art
Adam Theron-Lee Rensch reviews Nicholas Brown’s “Autonomy: The Social Ontology of Art under Capitalism.”
Adam Theron-Lee RenschJun 5, 2019
My Friend Marshall
The dean of American music critics on his late friend, public intellectual Marshall Berman.
Robert ChristgauMay 27, 2019
Where Is Deconstruction Today?: On Jacques Derrida’s “Theory and Practice” and Byung-Chul Han’s “Shanzhai: Deconstruction in Chinese”
Gregory Jones-Katz considers the legacy of deconstruction.
Gregory Jones-KatzMay 8, 2019
- Around the World
- Philosophy & Religion
Philosophy for Everyone and No One: On Two Recent Books by John Kaag
John Muller discusses John Kaag’s innovation in the genre of philosophical memoir.
John F. MullerMay 7, 2019
Ornamental Thinking: On “Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason”
Is Justin E. H. Smith's assemblage of material actually illuminating? Yes, but only sometimes.
Evan SelingerMay 4, 2019
1982: A Factory Odyssey: On Leslie Kaplan’s “Excess — The Factory”
Mikkel Krause Frantzen finds hope in “Excess — The Factory” by Leslie Kaplan, translated from the French by Julie Carr and Jennifer Pap.
Mikkel Krause FrantzenMay 3, 2019
Human Organs: On Ernst Kapp’s “Elements of a Philosophy of Technology”
A review of Ernst Kapp's 1877 work, which represents "an important forerunner in theories of media and culture."
William StewartMay 2, 2019
We Hold These Ideas to Be Self-Evident
Michael Kimmage considers "The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History" by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen.
Michael KimmageApr 29, 2019