peccavi

2006-02-22T01:22:00.000+08:00

laudanumLaudanumb. The sonorous timbre of deep-grained truth. Chansons from a spectral salon. Rain lashed sea coasts. Tidal salt and the chemical afterhours. A time before a time. A time that never was.Fortissimo bridges of nautical spray. So they say.A little more and a little less. Ghostsongs from a past life. LVG delivers.

2005-09-18T21:40:00.000+08:00

going goneAuction begins at 8 tonight and will be up for a week until next Sunday. No reserve on all items. Under the gavel: Ann Demeulemeester T-shirt customised by Patti Smith (donated by Ann Demeulemeester); Stella McCartney thigh-high fake leather boots (donated by Stella McCartney); Viktor & Rolf chiffon gown (donated by Tilda Swinton, worn at Cannes); Yohji Yamamoto black satin tent coat (

2005-08-14T10:43:00.000+08:00

away and reliefI like Secret Sundaze. But not as the culminating shot of 3 days worth of afterparties. Felt like gratituous brutality. When R says "I feel like a mess" she so accurately represents the fatigue at that precise moment of wastedness it sounds like the font of supreme articulation is spouting forth. I've only just recollected my wits about me. No contest.

2005-08-14T08:53:00.000+08:00

feu cruelLotta in i-D (nice spread this time) is a case of precocity and sheer daring. I confess to laughing at her outrageousities two years ago but this is one of those patent instances of 'she who laughs last laughs fucking best'. Having said that I would still like to respectfully indicate my puzzlement at seeing motherfucking (!) Peste Noire in shot no. 1 of said spread. Hilarity.

2004-09-20T19:24:00.000+08:00

every pearl is a lynx is a girl . . . is a Medúllan heartbeat in Athens. Sjón Sigurdsson is, as ever, revelatory: One breath away from Mother Oceania your nimble feet make prints in my sand You have done good for yourselves since you left my wet embrace and crawled ashore Every boy is a snake is a lily every pearl is a lynx is a girl Sweet like harmony made into flesh you dance by my side

2004-06-16T02:45:00.000+08:00

west of the moon These days, I dream that heaven is South Portland, Maine. In the summers we live in a house by the south coast, the whispered susurrations of waves and languid afternoons a mixture of beauty and paralysis. Your play gestates; long days melt into evening, summer segues into fall; and when winter arrives we leave the resplendent New England fall for the nightlights of London,

2004-06-15T21:01:00.000+08:00

east of the sun

2004-05-22T07:29:00.000+08:00

recursive Yep, this sounds about right - ". . . Yet they do it because they're frightened. They're frightened of taking that leap of faith, but not knowing how to turn what excites them and motivates them into a way to make a living, and not sure they really have the talent, and not at all confident it will all work out in the end. And worried that by giving up the safe, reliable, however

2004-05-18T00:01:00.000+08:00

the passionate sceptic . . . [thus] Russell found himself at dinner sitting next to the principal of a respectable girls' college, who asked him: 'Why did you give up philosophy?' To which he is supposed to have replied: 'Because I discovered I preferred fucking.'Ray Monk, The Ghost of Madness. There must be something more important, one feels, though I don’t believe there is. I am haunted -

2004-05-11T09:37:00.000+08:00

bibliotek Turning the Pages. Also, Christina Manning.

2004-05-09T09:03:00.000+08:00

a logician a day / keeps contradictions at bay Greg Restall's 'logician a day' project has been re-posted for your edification. The serialized profiles may be found here. Most of the old school are present (no De Morgan?) as are most of the usual suspects post-Frege. Dr Restall has asked for additional suggestions, so I will mention a curious omission: Mr David 'Plurality of Worlds' Lewis is

2004-05-08T11:45:00.000+08:00

sliced monads Speaking of which, the Library of Living Philosophers is probably the cleverest innovation in philosophy since sliced monads. Every serious philosopher, I think, should have a set of these gems. Unfortunately, they are hard to come by (especially when one tries to acquire them on the cheap) and bloody expensive - thus it is that I have only managed to locate and acquire two

2004-05-08T09:02:00.000+08:00

einstein too, was most unkind John Passmore, eminent historian of philosophy and practiced flogger of logical positivism, once remarked that "logical positivism is dead, or as dead as a philosophical movement ever becomes". And that has been the oft-heard refrain ever since. What is less well known however, is Einstein's contempt for the Vienna Circle and its adherents. P. A. Schilpp,

2004-05-05T06:51:00.000+08:00

a memorable fancy

2004-05-03T00:48:00.000+08:00

Promise me you will not forget Portofino. . . . Across the harbor? A yellow church. A cliff. Promise me you will witness the day diminish. And when the roofs darken, when the stars drift until they shatter on the sea's finish, you will know what I told you is true when I said abandonment is beautiful.Spencer Reece, "Portofino".

2004-05-01T10:57:00.000+08:00

daybreak

2004-04-30T08:52:00.000+08:00

bye bye IA This is probably not her idea of academic superstardom, but the Invisible Adjunct has been making the news following her decision to call it a day. As most readers are doubtless aware by now, the IA's decision to leave log and adjunct life (for good, and naturally, for greener pastures) was deemed newsworthy enough for The Chronicle of Higher Education to track her down for an

2004-04-27T19:50:00.000+08:00

love and the scythe Shades of Dolores and fragments from a Hymn to Proserpine - Goddess and maiden and queen, be near me now and befriend. Thou art more than the day or the morrow, the seasons that laugh or that weep; For these give joy and sorrow; but thou, Proserpina, sleep. Sleep, shall we sleep after all? For the world is not sweet in the end; For the old faiths loosen and fall, the new

2004-04-26T02:15:00.000+08:00

ten years Just because. And thus it bears retelling: 当离开一年、两年以后，记忆中的人和世界都明显得不一样了；十年八年之后，不知到还能认出什么？人，第一个十年是朦胧，第二个十年是幻想，之后，是成家立业，是发现，是认识，是思考与创造的十年再十年。四个我的同龄人，只是因为他们试图去了解他们生长在的社会，只是因为他们试图表诉自己独立的思想和观点，只是因为他们不想无动于衷，只是因为他们是中国人生活在中国，所以他们要在囚牢里度过他们最宝贵的十年八年。我，十岁离去中国，那时仍是朦胧之中；十六年后，因为我在美国，在异国他乡，我可以毫无畏惧得去发现，去认识，去思考，去呐喊我自己的声音。但若不是十六年前的一个偶然，那铁栏之后的青年也许就是我；或许我的身体仍可以自由，但我必须压抑着自己的声音，昧捂着自己的良知，不去认识，不去思考，不去惹祸找麻烦。 "

2004-04-24T10:26:00.000+08:00

'These walls,' said he, 'were once the seat of luxury and vice. They exhibited a singular instance of the retribution of Heaven, and were from that period forsaken, and abandoned to decay.' His words excited my curiosity, and I enquired further concerning their meaning.Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance.

2004-04-20T12:53:00.000+08:00

meme* I found it amazing just to look at.1 Something about the way they put things together on the tracks made him conclude it was hopeless.2 Without monks in the wilderness, the worldly clientele might not be impressed and inclined to suppose that the Order has anything very special or different to offer them - for it knows its monsignors a little too well; but without the monsignors in the

2004-04-17T18:38:00.000+08:00

assume the position It is impossible not to be moved by the painful eroticism of Steven Shainberg's Secretary. Indeed, I can't remember the last time I was moved by a surfeit of painful eroticism. Secretary is a film that succeeds on multiple levels - as a sympathetic rendering of the dominant/submissive archetypes in BDSM mythology, as an uneasy but compelling peep into the odd dysfunctions of

2004-03-17T23:06:00.000+08:00

i-D 242

2004-03-07T21:09:00.000+08:00

no michael moore either John Rhys-Davies is a rather uncommonplace figure in Hollywood - a conservative of sincere conviction whose candour has lately landed him in no small measure of controversy. Not one to speak softly and carry a big axe then? On liberal paradiso: Conservatives indeed are scarce in Hollywood. "You introduce a Republican to another in Hollywood, it's like a meeting between

2004-03-07T11:24:00.000+08:00

truth is Yelena: The truth, however dreadful it is, is not so dreadful as uncertainty. Sonya: No, uncertainty is better. . . . One has hope at least.Chekhov, Uncle Vanya.

2004-03-04T17:01:00.000+08:00

no heretics plz, we're lefties John Holbo guesting at Crooked Timber wonders what could be wrong with "lefty profs maintaining their iron fist of hegemonic dominance" in the academy. In a long drawn-out debate that originated at his, which then got transferred over to Timber, we are told by certain quarters of the commentariat: "nothing wrong, and indeed we should maintain said dominance by hook

2004-03-03T00:26:00.000+08:00

only prudent Yesterday, someone from Cravaths dropped by. As you never know who might chance onto your blog, staying pseudonymous is more or less the prudent thing to do - if only to avoid the nightmare scenario of having something you wrote come back to haunt you during an interview. Seeing that I have a predilection for the odd intemperate post (or two), this is a valid cause for concern -

2004-03-02T18:38:00.000+08:00

philosophical powers! The Overmen of philosophy now have their own patented Ad Hominem figures! Recommended: David "The Inductor" Hume, "Vindictive" Wittgenstein, and "Nefarious" Nietzsche! Don't forget your very own George "The Bishop" Berkeley™ with patented Eye-Closing Action!** See stockists for details! * Close his eyes and his enemies disappear! * Eye-closing defense is vulnerable to

2004-02-25T06:57:00.000+08:00

a matter of temperament I don't usually partake in online quizzes - as a general rule, they are lame. But this one was too good to pass up. Besides, even the usually humourless Clerk has on occasion indulged in a frivolous quiz or two. And so . . . YOU ARE RULE 12(b)! While you might be a defendant's best friend, you aren't exactly polite to others. You have seven separate grounds on which to

2004-02-18T03:24:00.000+08:00

wittgenstein, ingrate Over at Crooked Timber, some cliché-meister predictably had to mention Wittgenstein. Why Wittgenstein? Why always Wittgenstein? Why not Kant? Or Hume? Or Mackie? Or Plantinga? Are they less profound on religion? Anyway, Chris Bertram writes: On Wittgenstein - I think I'm right in saying that this all comes from Schopenhauer (and, in a sense, from Kant). But my history of

2004-02-13T08:57:00.000+08:00

two hundred years and a day Not long ago I became acquainted with the Kantian philosophy – and now I have to tell you of a thought I derived from it, which I feel free to do because I have no reason to fear it will shatter you so profoundly and painfully as it has me. We are unable to decide whether that which we call truth really is truth, or whether it only appears to us to be. If the latter,

2004-02-09T21:03:00.000+08:00

anarchy at the v&a! Doyenne of the outrageous, the controversial and all that is unright in the world of fashion - the inimitable Vivienne Westwood descends on the Victorian & Albert for four months of exhibitionist mayhem. Featuring select pieces from the Westwood archives along with the V&A's standing collection, the exhibition promises to be both paean and vivid insight to 30 years of radical

2004-02-09T20:11:00.000+08:00

not a metaphysical determinist Determinism - the doctrine that all events are predetermined and fixed in a world governed by natural laws - is given its most striking illustration by Laplace in his Essai Philosophique sur les Probabilités: We ought to regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its antecedent state and as the cause of the state that is to follow. An intelligence

2004-02-07T13:07:00.000+08:00

sangria and the boatman's call I don't believe in an interventionist God but I know, darling, that you do if I did, I would kneel down and ask Him not to intervene when it came to you not to touch a hair on your head leave you as you are and if He felt He had to direct you direct you into my arms Then I don't believe in the existence of angels but looking at you I wonder if that's true but if

2004-02-04T22:17:00.000+08:00

for real Is he for real? "New age neanderthal Judge Alex Kozinski has been whining about the possibility the Ninth Circuit's shameful memo dispos may become citable under a proposed amendment to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure! As far as I can tell, Kozinski's argument boils down to this: if memo dispos are citable, Ninth Circuit judges will actually have to read the stuff the staff

2004-01-27T14:28:00.000+08:00

"anti-semitism scarcely exists in the west" But of course. First, virulent anti-Semitism in France. Now this (via We The Undersigned): A poll published in the Jewish Chronicle today found 47 per cent of people were unable to agree with the statement: "A British Jew would make an equally acceptable prime minister as a member of any other faith." According to the ICM poll, 18 per cent of the

2004-01-27T13:47:00.000+08:00

the hypocrisy of the left Now, as I've mentioned before, although I have libertarian inclinations, I am not a close follower of day-to-day politics and view myself as 'outside the spectrum' as it were. Be that as it may, there are some very striking things about the left that annoy me no end - for instance, that the left constantly counts among its ranks apologists for tyranny, anti-Semitism,

2004-01-22T11:28:00.000+08:00

Soon now, we'll mark the year's end that approaches, It's like a snake that crawls into a hole: Already half its scaly length is hidden What man can stop us losing the last trace? Even if we want to tie its tail No matter how we try, we can't; it's futile. The children make all effort not to sleep, While we guard the night with good cheer. The cockerels should not cry the dawn for now And the

2004-01-11T12:29:00.000+08:00

from the horse's mouth While we're on the topic of falsifiability in principle and value, we might as well hear from the arch-falsificationist himself: Concerning my contention that it is impossible to derive a sentence stating a norm or decision from a sentence stating a fact, the following may be added. In analysing the relations between sentences and facts, we are moving into that field of

2004-01-04T08:27:00.000+08:00

falsifiability and moral evaluations In response to Larry Solum, Professor Kyron Huigens over at Punishment Theory writes: . . . there's no ontological or epistemological divide that claims about value are on the wrong side of, in a way that would preclude their being falsifiable in principle. It's easy to see this falsifiability if one takes the view that the valuable is such because it's

2004-01-04T07:57:00.000+08:00

back to the pre-socratics Wolfgang Schwarz writes in response to Mr Quigle: In my last post, I said that I do not believe that every extended thing must have parts. Sam disgrees, arguing that whenever something is extended over length h, we can restrict our attention to a part of it with length h/n for any n < h. [. . .] . . . couldn't there be a quantized world where every thing's extension

2004-01-01T20:59:00.000+08:00

new year's resolution Don't make promises you can't keep. Save everyone all the trouble. It'd be much easier.

2003-12-24T12:17:00.000+08:00

heaven can wait

2003-12-20T23:56:00.000+08:00

sauron: offer and acceptance Qiken lover Heidi Bond ponders the nuances of modern contract law. Via The Volokh Conspiracy.

2003-12-18T21:29:00.000+08:00

not so fast Deposed arch-tyrant Saddam Hussein's capture has predictably led to bleating noises from the anti-war left and sneering from the pro-war right to suggestions that his arrest might have been staged. A Small Victory, amongst others of the war-inclined, is quick to consign the suggestion to the conspiracy theory loony bin. I think that this is premature, and that both reactions are

2003-12-17T19:02:00.000+08:00

something for everyone Wagnerians too: . . . In the "Ring," special importance attaches to the pairing of two minor triads separated by four half-steps - say, E minor and C minor. Conventional musical grammar says that these chords should keep their distance, but they make an eerie couple, having one note (G) in common. Wagner uses them to represent, among other things, the Tarnhelm, the ring's

2003-12-16T10:30:00.000+08:00

trash, the end

2003-12-13T01:13:00.000+08:00

know when to let go But obviously Brian Leiter doesn't - just scroll down near the bottom, he pops up wanting the last word like some sort of sand-filled punching bag.

2003-12-09T10:29:00.000+08:00

vapidity from leiter Professor Brian Leiter expresses annoyance in a laughable rejoinder to the Chomsky debate. A few points to note about the whole debacle. I should confess that I wandered into the Chun debate unaware that quite a bit has already been written about Chomsky's remarks. I was primarily concerned with the poor logic of Chun's defence of Chomsky rather than his politics (although

2003-12-08T14:50:00.000+08:00

more chomsky While over at Chun's, I was unaware that Chomsky's remarks have actually generated some gnashing of teeth and a good deal of blogospheric heat. Props to Pejman Yousefzadeh for linking me in this post, in which Professor Chomsky is shown the errors of his ways: The extent to which Chomskyites go to try to prove that two plus two equals lettuce is truly a wonder to behold. Also see

2003-12-08T08:33:00.000+08:00

spoiling for a fight Unavoidably, I take the bludgeon to Chun. Over a breath-taking Norman Geras post no less.

2003-12-06T01:29:00.000+08:00

trimalchio For with my own eyes I saw the Sibyl hanging in a cage at Cumae, And when the boys said to her, "Sibyl, what do you want?" She replied, "I want to die."

2003-12-03T12:38:00.000+08:00

british higher education Chief Crescateer Will Baude links to an excellent article by Richard Epstein on the decrepit state of English universities. Professor Epstein provides a none-too-flattering contrast of English universities to their illustrious American counterparts, observing that the intellectual blandness endemic to the British system is largely due to the pernicious effects of

2003-12-01T11:58:00.000+08:00

tempest of tea leaves Back to the question of sub judice contempt. Liability for contempt, based on the 'strict liability' rule, is legislated for under the Contempt of Court Act 1981. 'Strict liability' is defined thus: In this Act "the strict liability rule" means the rule of law whereby conduct may be treated as a contempt of court as tending to interfere with the course of justice in

2003-11-30T12:55:00.000+08:00

storm in a teacup The Guardian reports that David Blunkett - the British Home Secretary - may be facing a contempt-of-court inquiry by the Attorney General's office for his comments on the arrest of an alleged terror suspect. The Attorney General is understood to be mulling an investigation into Mr Blunkett's remarks after they were deemed potentially prejudicial by several senior barristers -

2003-11-30T12:04:00.000+08:00

tweaky Sorry, just tweaks, no overhaul. I have neither time nor inclination at the moment. Besides, everyone else is on Movable Type. I'll probably move on to MT in the somewhat distant future.

2003-11-28T02:49:00.000+08:00

fine grain But it is with men as with trees: if you lop off their finest branches, into which they were pouring their young life-juice, the wounds will be healed over with some rough boss, some odd excrescence; and what might have been a grand tree expanding into liberal shade, is but a whimsical misshapen trunk. Many an irritating fault, many an unlovely oddity, has come of a hard sorrow, which

2003-11-25T12:13:00.000+08:00

from autumn to ashes

2003-11-25T05:09:00.000+08:00

aesthetic discomfiture Is cubism theory gone mad? I have - for as long as I can remember - always been suspicious of the Klees, Mondrians and Kandinskys that litter art-space. Same with cubism. When confronted with art tending towards the non-figurative, my first reaction is suspicion: suspicion as to the artist's motives and his vision - and more importantly - the theory that guides his vision.

2003-11-23T02:28:00.000+08:00

on the plurality of logics, and etc. Two logicians in conversation almost always makes for an exciting interview this side of planet Logicon. Dr Susan Haack of Deviant Logic, Fuzzy Logic fame has a nice chat with Professor Chen Bo of Peking University in the October 2003 issue of the Journal of World Philosophy. For the lay reader with a passing interest in the subject, Professor Haack's remarks

2003-11-16T10:51:00.000+08:00

when you are old But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face. W.B. Yeats

2003-11-13T13:19:00.000+08:00

conference announcement Logician and philosopher of science Mr David Miller of the University of Warwick will be hosting a conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Karl Popper. The three day conference, tentatively titled Philosophy: Problems, Aims, Responsibilities, will be held from the 16th to 18th of September, 2004. The principal dates for the submission of abstracts,

2003-11-13T10:12:00.000+08:00

philosophy tv Chris Bertram over at Crooked Timber writes with considerable verve on the merits of dramatizing television philosophy. He links to this article in The Guardian by one of the makers of a documentary on Richard Rorty, who apparently is "one of the most interesting thinkers in the west". While I would not concur with that assessment of Mr Rorty, the article is worth reading in full

2003-11-13T09:10:00.000+08:00

nostalgia for the indulgent Permalinks are up, yo. If you'd like to relive (and relink) the good ole' posts, click on the time stamp.

2003-11-07T09:48:00.000+08:00

mr baude's line drawing dilemma Crescat supremo Will Baude writes: Enthymeme and The Curmudgeonly Clerk purport to have found a legal standard that will divide disclosure of one's gender, transsexual status, and HIV status from one's religion, tattooedness, or (perhaps) age. For the record, I made no such claim. What I made were arguments to the effect that a tort existed. The fact that a tort

2003-11-04T23:26:00.000+08:00

actionable? you bet I was about to write the obligatory Weekly Clever Post when lo, the Curmudgeonly Clerk weighs in with weighty legal commentary as to the merits of a civil action in the following case, the facts of which are hereby reproduced from The Guardian: Six men are suing Sky TV after they took part in a reality TV show in which they competed to win the affections of a beautiful

2003-10-31T14:01:00.000+08:00

as good as dead We can love, and believe we are committed to, someone who is dead. And the object of such love and commitment may be, not someone who is dead, but some living person's earlier self. Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons.

2003-10-27T00:18:00.000+08:00

mooting panic stations Would a duty of care to a claimant in a tort action exist if the claimant's identity was previously unknown to the defendant? Should White v Jones be applicable in such a case, i.e. the fictive Fishery v Sloan? The Court of Appeal ruled on grounds 2 that, "[i]n the alternative, even if the factors set out at (1) did not prevent a duty of care from arising, the authority

2003-10-25T11:08:00.000+08:00

good fortune I was at the local Oxfam yesterday when I had the good fortune to discover Bryan Magee's Modern British Philosophy (out of print like, probably since before I was born). The by-now legendary series of interviews on which the book is based was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 during the winter of 1970-71, the transcripts of which were reworked into publishable form by Magee and the

2003-10-22T05:55:00.000+08:00

may it please the court Take heart, fellow mooters! Justice (and former Solicitor General) Robert Jackson, quoted in Yarborough v Gentry, says rather encouragingly: I made three arguments of every case. First came the one that I planned - as I thought, logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented - interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the

2003-10-17T04:58:00.000+08:00

pliant, are we? Greg Weston of Ex Parte writes: Other than Singapore and small parts of the Arab world, where has drug prohibition ever been effective? And the relative success of those countries has more to do with their servile populations than anything else, and fortunately we don't have such a people. Gee, and you'd think it has more to do with the mandatory death penalty that Singapore

2003-10-15T22:26:00.000+08:00

words and things In the saltmines of Salzburg, they throw a bare winter branch into the worked-out depths of the mine. Two or three months later it is brought out covered with brilliant crystallisations: the tiniest twigs no bigger than a titmouse's claw, are decked with myriad diamonds, dazzling and ever-changing; the original branch is unrecognisable. I use the word crystallisation to describe

2003-10-13T06:22:00.000+08:00

cabot tower, bristol Did some sight-seeing. I have a public law seminar at 9 tomorrow that I have not prepared for. I should probably do something about it.

2003-10-12T21:30:00.000+08:00

tintern abbey, wales

2003-10-01T15:01:00.000+08:00

j'arrive Blogging will recommence soon.

2003-09-01T00:08:00.000+08:00

for if we are silent, who will speak? What a monument of human smallness is this idea of the philosopher king. What a contrast between it and the simplicity of humaneness of Socrates, who warned the statesmen against the danger of being dazzled by his own power, excellence, and wisdom, and who tried to teach him what matters most - that we are all frail human beings. What a decline from this

2003-07-28T20:24:00.000+08:00

the great and the deadYou may be right and I may be wrong, and with a little effort we may get nearer to the truth.Happy Birthday, Sir Karl.Karl Popper was born in Vienna on 28 July 1902, and died in London on 17 September 1994.

2003-04-18T23:59:00.000+08:00

prolegomena Silence teaches you how to sing.