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About Myself |
Academic Jeremiad
A critical assessment of various neoconservatives of the late eighties who
opposed the liberal emphasis on diversity, indeterminacy, pseudo-research,
"junk-think," and empty jargon. Often these authors went overboard,
but much of what they said turns out to be valid.
Culture Versus Civilization
I challenge the post-Boasian assumption of anthropologists that all cultures
are basically equal in meeting human needs. The arguments of Morgan, Tyler,
Boas, White, Geertz, and others are examined relevant to this assumption,
which I am willing to describe as a fallacy.
16 Eurocentric Functions: Qualitative Standards
for Judging Literature
Sixteen distinctions are proposed that justify a qualitative comparison
between the "high" literary achievement of western civilization
and non-western literary texts with supposedly more compelling appeal.
These distinctions include formal integrity versus thrown togetherness
(Geworfenheit), variable thickness of description versus narrative homogeneity,
depth of characterization versus stereotypes, complex ethical choice versus
simple Manichaean struggle, etc.
Immortal Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is singled out as probably the greatest work
of literature in the history of western civilization. My argument is based
on both internal and external evidence as well as biographical and historical
evidence, demonstrating that qualitative standards can now and again be
brought into play on a relatively objective basis. |