Friedrich --

* I just noticed that all-around visual guy and occasional 2Blowhards commenter John Leavitt (a guest posting by John is here) now has his own website, here. Check out his illustrations and cartoons. John's got a striking way with Art Nouveau-ish lines and shapes; he's an artist who really knows how to make ink behave.

* A brief, casual posting by Lynn Sislo (here) says just about everything that's ever needed to be said about why artists find the idea of socialism so appealing.

* Did you know that Denis Dutton, the man behind the great Arts & Letters Daily (here), is an evo-bio/evo-psych fan, as well as an arts buff? As well as much else: philosophy prof, editor of the journal Philosophy and Literature (you can get a free copy here), author/editor of a fascinating book about forgery and the philosophy of art (here) ... Despite his obligations, he sometimes finds time to write, and when he does it's always a treat. Here's a recent essay of his discussing politics from an evo-bio point of view. Vigorous, brainy, organized, and funny -- hard to beat. Link found thanks to the Human Nature Daily Review, here. And here's a long Salon q&a with Dutton.

* Do you follow Peter Briffa, who writes the blog PublicInterest (here)? He's one of a kind -- grumpy, goading, sarcastic, reactionary, brusque. Full of entertaining bile, in other words, and (he'll kill me for saying this, but so be it) sweeter and more affable than he probably means to be.

Best,

Michael

Hope this didn't post in error. First comment just went poof.

I wanted to tell you how much I respect Denis Dutton. He is not only a scholar, he is a gentleman. And one who answers my very unscholarly emails promptly. I have been a fan of his and ALD since it began.

Also wanted to tell you I was unable to link to his "Here's a recent essay" on your site.

All best, Judy

Posted by: Judith on July 30, 2003 03:12 PM

P.S. Also meant to add that I don't know how Denis Dutton does it all. Just reading your paragraph about him brought on an Excedrin PM-level drowsiness.

A tired Judy

Posted by: Judith on July 30, 2003 03:17 PM

Judy -- Glad to meet another Dutton fan! He's amazing. I think ALD has been the best thing to happen to the world of the arts in the couple of decades I've been following them. It's really opened the conversation up -- to the point where it's hard for me to remember how policed and narrow the conversation was before Dutton came along.

Sorry the link to the essay isn't working for you. Seems to be working on my computer, so I'm a bit flummoxed. It's a good piece, too. You can also go to the Human Nature Daily Review (linked to in the posting), and do a search on "dutton" -- it's about seven or eight postings down on the righthand side of the screen ...

I just found a Salon q&a with Dutton you might enjoy -- I put the link to it in the posting.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on July 30, 2003 03:20 PM

'Also wanted to tell you I was unable to link to his "Here's a recent essay" on your site.'

The link doesn't work for me either. But if I start out with the link in this form:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evolutionary-psychology/files/duttonreview.pdf

I can get to the essay.

Cordially,

Dave Lull

Posted by: Dave Lull on July 30, 2003 06:21 PM

Thanks for the solution, Dave. I've corrected the link in the posting. Here's hoping it works from now on. Let me know if not.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on July 30, 2003 06:37 PM

In re the Dutton essay on Darwinian politics:
We do have communal kitchens which get substantial economies of scale. It's just that they're called fast food joints, and it's one of the great jokes of the era that the people who favored the early utopian vision don't like how it worked out in practice.

Posted by: Nancy Lebovitz on July 31, 2003 09:23 AM

Just read the Denis Dutton piece. Very impressive.

At the same time, we ought not to try in politics to achieve the impossible. As Michael Oakeshott advised, “To try to do something which is inherently impossible is always a corrupting enterprise.” So have some of the most corrupt political systems been created out of the highest human ideals. This is one of the tragic features of the human condition. Politics must respond to all of our nature, and it can only do so if it sees with Darwinian eyes the deep, pervasive, and haphazard system of tastes and preferences in human relations that are our inheritance.

Boy, I wish I'd written that. Heck, I wish I'd even thought that.

Posted by: Friedrich von Blowhard on August 3, 2003 01:55 AM






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