Thursday, February 12, 2004
(8:09 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Weblog Triumphalism
Robb's post below indicates one of the many reasons that the Weblog is head and shoulders above the rest of the blogosphere: variety. On what other blog could you find not just one, but two original raps, teary eyed confessionals, cutting edge philosophical discourse, biting cultural criticism, startling theological insights, but also the sexiest writing team alive? Well, actually, if you're looking for the latter, you might want to check out The H is O, but still.
Yet there are other blogs out there! And those blogs need our support. And love. Whether they're blogrolled or not. That's why I have decided, upon careful consideration, to do a "Blogosphere's Greatest Hits" post today, also known as a "link-fest."
First, I must note that Chun is making his bid for world domination today with an unprecedented series of posts, many of which seem to make immediate sense. For instance, commenting on a proposal to dismantle the US nuclear arsenal, he says:
I imagine responses to this would be of two types: 1) If we dismantled our nukes, other countries would only pretend to, and then nuke us, or at least plausibly threaten to. 2) Dismantling our sacred arsenal would reduce our ability to dominate ("democratize") the rest of the world and would thus be detrimental to U.S. business interests.
I wonder if this is a permanent change, or if the aggressively allusive Chun we all know and love will be back soon. Meanwhile, over at The Virtual Stoa, there is a series of posts (beginning here) commemorating the bicentennial of Kant's death by anthologizing favorite footnotes from his works -- also, a discussion of the somewhat inscrutable decision of the French government to ban religious symbols.
Crooked Timber features discussions of conservatives in academia, elsewhere addressed by Michael Bérubé, together with a charming comment thread on books every educated person should read (to which I feebly contributed). Lars quotes some remarks on the Thinking in Action series, some volumes of which admittedly leave much to be desired.
Cap'n Pete considers art, while our sister site discusses homosexual penguins. Invisible Adjunct provides a brief discussion of the intellectual diversity "issue", propagated, of course, by the postmodern relativists associated with the Republican Party. The Chronicle of Higher Education has decided to share the wealth by allowing us peons access to Stanley Fish's article on the "Trojan Horse" campaign. Here's a snippet:
While it may be, as some have said, that the line between the political and the academic is at times difficult to discern -- political issues are legitimately the subject of academic analysis; the trick is to keep analysis from sliding into advocacy -- it is nevertheless a line that can and must be drawn, and I would go so far as to agree with Horowitz when he criticizes professors who put posters of partisan identification on their office doors and thus announce to the students who come for advice and consultation that they have entered a political space.
But it is precisely because the pursuit of truth is the cardinal value of the academy that the value (if it is one) of intellectual diversity should be rejected.
Matthew Yglesias admits he was wrong. Adam Robinson continues his multi-partite discussion of the state of rock, and the rock of the state. Kevin Drumm's blog continues to exist.
That is the news of the blogosphere. This should hopefully constitute enough links to keep everyone busy at work tomorrow. (Sorry, Richard, for not posting during lunch. I was busy making a delicious meal.)
