Amor Mundi

A Week of Confusions

Roger Berkowitz
An attempted attack on the husband of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is met with denial and conspiratorial deflection. Herschel Walker, Mehmet Oz, and J.D. Vance might actually become U.S. Senators. Kanye West and Kyrie Irving are cancelled. The confusion inherent in these events is evidence that the foundations of our world are shifting. Hannah Arendt warned against trying to understand the present by simple analogy to the past. We have to be open to the possibility that something radically new is upon us. In this case, the present is both new and old. 

An Aesthetic Find

Roger Berkowitz
Of all of Hegel’s great works, only the Aesthetics has not yet existed in a complete form. That may change.

A Cultural Breakdown

Roger Berkowitz
Political violence is on the rise. The attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband this week is only the latest example. 

Regrets

Roger Berkowitz
In June 2020, The New York Times published an op-ed in which Senator Tom Cotton argued in favor of using federal troops in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. In an essay published over two years after the controversy, the Washington Post's Erik Wemple writes that he and others should have defended the decision by the times.

Will the Youth Turn Right?

Roger Berkowitz
​​​​​​​N.S. Lyons explores an argument made Angela Nagle in her book Who Killed All the Normies? That the moral probity of the left will eventually strangle the energy of the movement and turn young and rebellious free thinkers to the right.

Legally, The Whole Ballgame

Roger Berkowitz
On December 7th, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Moore v. Harper, a case that may very well influence the fate of the American Republic.
 

Remembering Ursula Ludz (1936-2022)
A Tribute by Friends and Colleagues 

Ursula Ludz (1936-2022), eminent scholar, editor, and translator of Hannah Arendt’s writings, has passed away. For decades, her work shaped international Arendt scholarship. We’ve gathered testimonies from friends and colleagues who honor and remember her life and work.
 

1619 to 2022

Roger Berkowitz
I’ve been teaching the 1619 Project in classes this week. I was excited to see that Mark Weitzmann has a long essay exploring Nikole Hannah Jones and the controversy around the 1619 Project as a rorschach test for the American discourse on race.

Looking Critically at DEI Curricula in K-12 Education

Roger Berkowitz
The Editors of the Journal of Free Black thought have published an abridged version of their report on “Six Unsettling Features of DEI in K-12.” It is hardly a demonization of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion syllabi. But the Journal’s report does raise serious questions about the potential harms associated with some but certainly not all DEI practices.