Rebecca Goldstein's 36 Arguments has a fan on Terry Gross's "Fresh Air," whose reviewer praises its "gleeful gravitas": A philosopher by training, (she holds a Ph.D. from Princeton), Goldstein writes about what happens when worlds collide: the realms of the ethereal vs. the everyday; of erudition vs. gut instinct; of ration vs. lust. Her novels tackle the Big Questions of Life and unapologetically reference philosophers like Spinoza and William James. Best of all, Goldstein gets away with this high-hatting because she's so funny and she knows how to tell an engrossing story... (Also: Janet Maslin's NYT review)
Also on NPR today: Voodoo in a nutshell is about the idea that everything material has a spiritual dimension that is more real" than physical reality. So the Haitians are Platonists, as well as animists (they think the rocks and trees and fault-lines all have souls)? Whatever they are, Christopher Hitchens proposes that the vital next stage—beyond mere charity and rescue—will be to try and liberate Haiti's people from fear of witch doctors of all stripes...
Now, who will liberate us from that evil moron Pat Robertson? Not, I think, Rabbi Rami's interfaith breakfast buddies, or Rami's own pantheism. But I agree with his last word on the subject: To me there is no greater meaning or message or promise in the Haitian tragedy. There is only suffering and people seeking to take advantage of that suffering, and people seeking to alleviate that suffering.
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All the voodoo isn't in Haiti. Dean sends along this link to a disquieting story about the Kentucky Creation Museum. "Too close to home" indeed! http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/02/creation-museum-201002
And then there's the so-called science teacher in Ohio: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20teacher.html?ref=us
I still dig the idea of the Forms. It seems completely plausible to me (as a believer, which I'm aware is most of it), that there would be a model for everyone and everything, a natural or supernatural standard to which to aspire.
As sort of a side note, I do also tend to assign human qualities to just about everything. E.g. a leaf blowing across the road may not only have a quality of urgency or laziness, but my response (at least internal one) always includes an agenda. Maybe it's just some exercise of poetic license. It actually entertains me quite a bit. I don't know if you'd call it animism; my person Christy says I live in Disney.
Disney's a nice place to visit. My family like it a lot more than I do!
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