Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

Reading Kafka Improves Learning

Encountering an unexpected, bizarre situation—like a a story by Franz Kafka— can improve learning : According to research by psychologists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of British Columbia, exposure to the surrealism in, say, Kafka’s “The Country Doctor” or . . . . Continue Reading »

Race and Same-Sex Marriage

Before everyone gets tired of “playing the race card” game with Jimmy Carter, it might be worth noting that even though over fifty-four percent of the population of Washington, D.C. is African American, the white minority is not all that anxious to let the black folks vote on a . . . . Continue Reading »

Sacred vs. Secular

Our friend Chris Mueller, who directs the music here in New York for Notre Dame, the Polish Dominican parish up near Columbia, joined what you’d have to call the battle of the early music bands last week. Secular vs. Sacred, the event featured Trio Triumvirum , an all-male ensemble singing . . . . Continue Reading »

Shoddy Argument

A nice line on a philosopher: “He wants to substitute rhetoric for argument but without quite giving up argument. So he ends up giving shoddy arguments.” In a good online discussion of truth and Richard Rorty. . . . . Continue Reading »

My Other Car Is A …

From the October issue of Harper’s magazine: Chance a U.S. household that owns a Prius also owns an SUV: 1 in 3. Makes sense: Instead of driving the SUV 100 percent of the time, just drive if half the time and drive the Prius the other half to offset the emissions. Voila!—You’ve . . . . Continue Reading »

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts