From New Left Review, taking coordinates from Aristotle, Malcolm Bull finds in Agamben’s biopolitics and Nussbaum’s capabilities approach the disconnected fragments of a lost vision of society, adumbrated by Marx, glimpsed and rejected by Arendt. From Open Democracy, living in dialogue Richard Rorty made a matchless contribution to democratic dialogue across cultures in an era of global diversity, says his colleague Ramin Jahanbegloo; and Robert F. Bauer on Richard Rorty and the riches of progressive argument. Guess who’s coming to dinner? The controversial Peter Singer.
From NDPR, a review of Greek Political Thought by Ryan K. Balot. From TLS, Greek lives and times: A review of Richard Clogg Robert Holland and Diana Markides's The British and the Hellenes: Struggles for mastery in the Eastern Mediterranean 1850–1960; Ekeftherios Venizelos: The trials of statesmanship; Elisabeth Kontogiorgi's Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The rural settlement of refugees 1922–1930; Marina Petrakis's The Metaxas Myth: Dictatorship and propaganda in Greece; Violetta Hionidou's Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944; and Bea Lewkowicz's The Jewish Community of Salonika: History, memory, identity.
From The Economist, a review of The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business by Johan Van Overtveldt. From Spiked, a review of The Shock of the Old: Technology in Global History Since 1900 by David Edgerton; Imaginary Futures: from thinking machines to the global village by Richard Barbrook; and Fantasy Island by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson.
A review of Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence by James and Carol Gould. Darwin had to contend with religious dogma and bad poetry. An illustrious successor, Steve Jones, is equally frustrated by bad science. Science and Islam in Conflict: All over the world, no matter what the cultural or language differences, science is more or less guided by scientific principles—except in many Islamic countries, where it is guided by the Koran. This is the ultimate story about science and religion.
From Scientific American, Dog Bites Dog Story: Interpreting a collection of observations is a science in itself; and you may not have rhythm, but your brain does: New research begins to demystify communication between brain regions, potentially paving the way to treating disorders caused by crossed signals. Downtime on the High Frontier: When liberated from the rigors of routine, scientists in space make some remarkable discoveries. Science Imitates (Comic Book) Art: Paleontologists adopt a technical term from The Far Side. From New Statesman, a review of Blame Canada! South Park and Contemporary Culture by Toni Johnson-Woods and South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today.
