Critchley Throws the First Stone Debut of Times’ New Philosophy Blog
Simon Critchley, chair of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research, made a splash this week with an essay that inaugurated the New York Times’ new philosophy blog, The Stone., The series will feature a rotating group of prominent philosophers. Critchley who will serve as moderator, started from square one, asking, What is a Philosopher?, and looking to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle for answers.
While allowing that the philosophical pursuit leaves many to conclude that a philosopher is merely the one who is silly,, Critchley writes that the philosopher is also the one who takes time., He adds that the philosopher’s ability to critique society, to be in it but not of it, has always represented a threat: There is something dreadfully uncanny about the philosopher, something either monstrous or god-like or indeed both at once., The debate continued in the comments following the piece, which enjoyed most-read status on the Times’ website for two days straight.
To read Critchley’s introduction to The Stone, , visit http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/introducing-the-stone, as well as its first installment, at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/what-is-a-philosopher.
