Strong comic immoralism. Some of us drink our comedy dark. And those of us who do seem not to be able to get enough of it. There’s something special about dark comedy, the comedic genre known for its downright offensiveness and insensitivity. So special, in fact, that some of us think that the more twisted a joke is, the funnier it is likely to be. Well, at least one of us does. It’s me––I’m the one. In my recent article, “Strong Comic Immoralism,” I defend a view that has long been shunned by the philosophy of humor. The philosophy of humor? Yes, it’s a thing. One of the questions philosophers of humor consider concerns what the relationship is between immorality in jokes and how funny they are. The comic moralists believe that immorality in jokes make them less funny––some of them think this holds true always, some of them think this holds true sometimes. The comic immoralists believe that immorality in jokes make them funnier. (And the comic pluralists think that immorality in jokes sometimes makes them less funny and sometimes makes them funnier.) Up until now, comic immoralists have only defended moderate comic immoralism, or the view that immorality in jokes sometimes makes them funnier. But I hold the view that immorality in jokes always makes them funnier––I defend strong comic immoralism. … (New Work in Philosophy)
The Odyssey and James Joyce’s Ulysses. James Joyce’s Ulysses has been acclaimed as a landmark in literary history, and (by some) as the greatest novel of the twentieth century. Yet its roots go back much deeper in time. As its title suggests, the novel features a substantial link to the ancient world: Ulysses is a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. Instead of showcasing the adventures of Odysseus’ journeys over the ten years after the fall of Troy, however, it instead follows the wanderings of Leopold Bloom, a polite, married man of Jewish background, across a single day in Dublin (June 16th, 1904). His various experiences across this one day each correspond to events from the Odyssey, and so do the various people he encounters. The novel is then, naturally, saturated with references to antiquity. Even the sea-blue colour of the first edition’s cover was chosen to evoke both the seas Odysseus travels upon, as well as the contemporary Greek flag. … (Classical Wisdom)
Andrew Tate on Stoicism. The social media influencer Andrew Tate is in the news today because he’s been charged in Romania with “rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women.” He is also under investigation on separate charges including “money laundering and trafficking of minors”, as reported in the media. Whenever a figure that’s in the public eye mentions Stoicism, I receive emails and messages from people, sometimes including journalists, asking me to comment. I’m not going to comment directly on the charges Tate faces, etc., but I would like to respond to the video clip below, in which he talks about Stoicism, as I’ve been asked about it several times in the past. It’s called “Stoicism Explained by Andrew Tate” and was published eight months ago (Oct 2022) by the YouTube channel Intellectual Dark Web. … (Stoicism by Don Robertson)
Exit Hector, Again and Again: How Different Translators Reveal the ‘Iliad’ Anew. In one of the most moving and memorable scenes from the “Iliad,” the great Trojan warrior Hector says farewell to his wife, Andromache, who has urged him not to risk his life by fighting on the plain. He gives their baby back to her, tells her to go home, and reiterates his decision to advance on the enemy. Around 100 complete English translations of the “Iliad” have been published over the past 400 years. Their variety shows no clear trajectory of cultural change: Some of the more recent Homers are more archaic and less idiomatic than many earlier ones, but some are not. A wide variety of forms are used to “translate” the dactylic hexameter of the original, including prose and free verse as well as several poetic meters. … (New York Times)
Vax Populi: Vaccines, Autism, and RFK, Jr. In light of the ascendency of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a viable Democratic candidate challenging Joe Biden for the 2024 Presidential election (Newsweek reports “The Economist and YouGov released a survey that showed Kennedy with the highest favorability rating of all the current 2024 presidential candidates”), and the media coverage focusing on RFK, Jr.’s attitudes about vaccines—most notably his belief that they cause autism—I thought I would re-up my review (originally published in the Wall Street Journal on September 27, 2020) of Brian Deer’s exceptionally well-researched book on The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines. The book is the story of Andrew Wakefield and the fraudulent science behind the alleged causal connection between vaccines and autism upon which so much of Kennedy’s beliefs depend. Kennedy is wrong and Wakefield has been declared a fraud. This much needs to be acknowledged. Kennedy claims to value scientific truth above ideology or politics—he accepts climate science and its conclusions about anthropogenic global warming entirely, for example. And he has repeatedly said on podcasts with Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, and Bari Weiss in recent weeks that he would change his mind on the alleged connection between vaccines and autism if the evidence changed. The evidence for the link is not only nonexistent, it never existed. In light of these facts it would behoove RFK, Jr. and his campaign to abandon this false belief. … (Skeptic by Michael Shermer)