Philosophy
On Presidents' Day, PBS showed a new documentary about the Clinton presidency. I heard an interview with the director on Fresh Air where he argued that the time was right for this work because it was far enough in the past that it had just become history. Similarly, we had a candidate here a few weeks back who argued that it is appropriate to put a memorial at Ground Zero, but not a museum, since a memorial is a place for remembrance, but a museum is a place to make meaning and it was still too close to be able to acquire a deep understanding of the event. Twenty-five years, he argued, would be necessary to achieve the temporal space needed for the required objectivity. In both cases, there is a distinction drawn between current events, old news, and history. Is this a meaningful distinction? How old does something have to be to be history?
- What Is Priceless?
The sale of the last privately owned version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has me thinking about the old Mastercard commercials where they list a number of purchases and the cost of each, only to end with something emotional that gets labeled "priceless." ...
- Are Critics Artists?
It's an old cliche, "Everyone's a critic." While it may be easy to be critical, it is not easy to be a critic. Real criticism takes a work of art, literature, or film and uses it as the basis for an insightful discussion that weaves...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
- Presidential Age Limit
On the heels of the Iowa caucus, let's ask about the requirements to be President of the United States. It is written into the second article of the Constitution that to be eligible for the position, one must be thirty five years old. ...
Philosophy
How Old is History?
On Presidents' Day, PBS showed a new documentary about the Clinton presidency. I heard an interview with the director on Fresh Air where he argued that the time was right for this work because it was far enough in the past that it had just become history. Similarly, we had a candidate here a few weeks back who argued that it is appropriate to put a memorial at Ground Zero, but not a museum, since a memorial is a place for remembrance, but a museum is a place to make meaning and it was still too close to be able to acquire a deep understanding of the event. Twenty-five years, he argued, would be necessary to achieve the temporal space needed for the required objectivity. In both cases, there is a distinction drawn between current events, old news, and history. Is this a meaningful distinction? How old does something have to be to be history?
- What Is Priceless?
The sale of the last privately owned version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has me thinking about the old Mastercard commercials where they list a number of purchases and the cost of each, only to end with something emotional that gets labeled "priceless." ...
- Are Critics Artists?
It's an old cliche, "Everyone's a critic." While it may be easy to be critical, it is not easy to be a critic. Real criticism takes a work of art, literature, or film and uses it as the basis for an insightful discussion that weaves...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
- Presidential Age Limit
On the heels of the Iowa caucus, let's ask about the requirements to be President of the United States. It is written into the second article of the Constitution that to be eligible for the position, one must be thirty five years old. ...