Moving Philosophers: Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas

Max Horkheimer:

Theodor Adorno:

Jürgen Habermas:

Moving Philosophers: Freud, Lacan, and Žižek

Sigmund Freud:

Jacques Lacan:

Slavoj Žižek:

The Communist Manifesto Illustrated via Cartoons

The Communist Manifesto illustrated by carttons. This is an homage to the latent subversiveness of cartoons. Though U.S. cartoons are usually thought of as conveyors of capitalist ideologies of consumerism and individualism, Drew observes: “Somehow as an avid childhood fan of cartoons, these ideas were secondary to a more important lesson-that of the ‘trickster’ nature of many characters as they mocked, outwitted and defeated their more powerful adversaries. In the classic cartoon, brute strength and heavy artillery are no match for wit and humor, and justice always prevails. For me, it was natural to link my own childhood concept of subversion with an established, more articulate version [Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto]. Mickey running over the globe has new meaning in today’s mediascape, in which Disney controls one of the largest concentrations of media.” (From Youtube description)

Moving Philosophers: Barthes, Deleuze, and Baudrillard

Roland Barthes:

Gilles Deleuze:

Jean Baudrillard:

Ranhilio Aquino reports on the UNESCO World Day of Philosophy, 20 Nov. Ateneo de Manila University

A symposium on Power and Rights organized by professor Rainier Ibana of Ateneo de Manila University and professor Sedfrey Candelaria of its human rights center marked Unesco World Day of Philosophy on Nov. 20. I accepted the gracious invitation to be on the panel of discussants that included Dr. Leovino Garcia, Fr. Luis David, SJ and Dr. Florentino Hornedo, among others. Aside from expressing his irritation at having to be asked to speak ahead of me (as my bus from Tuguegarao did not allow me to be at Loyola Heights on time for the affair’s commencement), professor Jose David Lapuz regaled the audience of academics and human rights advocates with not-so-kind remarks over one or the other holding of Justice Learned Hand (Lapuz wondered how learned his hand was!) and rhetorical appeals to eschew philosophy for the more quotidian concerns about the plight of the hungry and the homeless. It took Leo Garcia to remind him that it was philosophy day and we had been invited precisely to philosophize.

Click here to read the rest of the essay.

Interesting result from Google Trends

What is Google Trends?

“With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most” (from Google Trends About Page).

When you type the word “philosophy” on the Search Trends box (http://www.google.com/trends) then hit enter, the result shows that most requests for the word “philosophy” come from the Philippines:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=philosophy

Perhaps statistics, indeed, does not really map out with reality, given the so called “eclipse” of philosophy in the Philippines.  It would be interesting to read different opinions on this.  Cheers!

Philosophy 101 #1

Philosophy of Mind: Personal Identity

Logic: On Ambiguity

The Meaning of Life

Ranhilio Aquino on the State of Graduate Education in the Philippines

The woeful state of graduate education

I USED to be convinced that primary education was the weakest link in the Philippine system of institutionalized education. I have since changed my mind, and I am now convinced that education in our graduate schools is. That graduate schools are a dime a dozen is evident and is deplorable, except to those who profit from the proliferation of graduate schools. Because the master’s degree is the basic requirement for teaching in the tertiary level, there has been a rush to obtain quickly, effortlessly and cheaply MA and MS degrees. I have no quarrel with making graduate education accessible; I am all for it. If quality graduate schools can be set up in the countryside by state universities and colleges, no matter how distant from Manila, may such institutions flourish! After all, I have never looked up to Manila as the seat of wisdom! The problem, however, is that almost any nondescript college or university reckons itself entitled to offer PhDs and MAs. When in one year, a provincial college or university confers a stupefying number of PhD’s, then I greatly fear that we have only added to the alarmingly lengthening roster of quack-doctors! Click here to read the full essay.

Moving Philosophers: Rorty, Chomsky, and Putnam

Richard Rorty:

Noam Chomsky:

Hilary Putnam:

What’s the role of philosophy in contemporary society?

Modes of Philosophizing: A Rountable Debate with Jonathan Barnes, Myles Fredric Burnyeat, Raymond Geuss, Barry Stroud

Should philosophy have something to say to non-philosophers? Should it be pursued only by those trained in philosophy? And how should analytic philosophy deal with other “modes of philosophizing”? “Cogito” poses some big questions to four prominent British and American philosophers. Click here to read the full essay.