Are Philosophers Afraid of Their Clothes?
Gwenda-lin Grewal unpacks the wardrobe of thought, James Carroll shares an anti-war reckoning, and more
September 8, 2022
In this week’s issue of Public Seminar, Dr. Dwight A. McBride reflects on Phillis Wheatley’s achievements, Yasmin Arquiza considers the history of the High Line, and more.
Peace Now
“At some point back then, my mother explained that the regular recitation at Mass of the ‘Hail Holy Queen’—the Salve Regina—had been ordered by the Virgin Mary herself in a miraculous apparition to three children like me at a place called Fatima. Learning to read, I checked the Mass card for those particular words, and saw that the ‘Hail Holy Queen’ carried the title ‘Prayer for the Conversion of Russia.’ That’s what leaps out of memory now.” In the first installment of a six-part Public Seminar series, James Carroll shares a personal and political reckoning with war. (September 7, 2022)
In the latest episode of the Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil J. Young discuss the life and legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev. (September 6, 2022)
Fashion Meets Philosophy
“I would say that the word ‘philosopher’ is a kind of outfit. It is an oxymoron to call oneself a philosopher. To be a philosopher is to be an amateur; it’s not to be a professional. To give it a title takes philosophy to a level that it can never reach unless it ceases to be what it is—namely, the activity of someone who is perpetually going back to the beginning and wondering about things from a perspective of the absolute non-expert.” Gwenda-lin Grewal chats with students Jack Condie, Nicholas Dagher, Noah Kupper, and Quinn Mason about the intricate, sometimes fraught history of fashion and philosophy. (September 7, 2022)
Read an excerpt from Gwenda-lin Grewal’s new book Fashion | Sense, recently published by Bloomsbury Academic. “Why do most philosophers hate clothes—or rather, hate fashion? The majority rule seems to be to treat the outer surface with either ritual formality or complete derision, as if the less you comb your hair the closer you are to truth. For a philosopher in search of reality, any sort of keeping up appearances looks laced with madness. Those who appear interested in making fashion statements run the risk of being accused of wasting time on shallow things, and so, being slipshod thinkers.” (September 7, 2022)
Public Space
“In a quiet corner of Chelsea, the pedestrian path of the High Line zigzags lazily between posh apartments and artsy lofts. On a sunny afternoon towards the end of summer, a gentle breeze from the Hudson River sweeps across the tufts of grass and colorful flowers. Rusty train tracks are the only reminder that the elevated walkway used to be a railway bringing food products into what was once a bustling industrial district.” Yasmin Arquiza examines the careful plant design behind a vibrant sliver of green space in the middle of Manhattan. (August 17, 2022)
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Poetry
In an excerpt from the latest issue of Social Research, Dr. Dwight A. McBride examines the significance of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects. “It matters as the first book published by an American slave of African origin. It matters as an emblem of the complex political, moral, and philosophical debates at hand in the American colonies on the eve of revolution. It matters as an aesthetic achievement. And it matters, perhaps most of all, as evidence of the persistence of anti-Black racism and the discourse of white supremacy that have indelibly impacted the reception of this book from its eighteenth-century release to the present day.” (September 7, 2022)
“What kind of information do I need to make sense of something—and if I were to play with that, what kind of effects could I get?” In the latest episode of the Multi-Verse podcast, Gregory Kan talks to Evangeline Riddiford Graham about the art of poetic restraint. (September 7, 2022)