“The amalgam of psychological attitudes we form is the synthetic complex. It may fall apart quite quickly as further reflection or further experience bears on it, and we may revert to our former judgments, feelings and tendencies.” MayFeelingsFormFallAttitudeBearsJudgmentReflectionComplexesTendenciesPsychologicalFormerFalling ApartSynthetic Author:Philip Kitcher
“Wilhelmine Germany was hostile to the expression of same-sex love - and, of course, Mann would have known of the fate of Oscar Wilde. His early reading of Platen's poetry, and, probably when he was in his early twenties, of Platen's diaries, introduced him to a form of sexual expression he found profoundly congenial. It's not quite Platonic.” FormCoursesReadingFoundSexKnownFateExpressionTwentiesGermanyOscarsHostileDiariesPlatonicWildeSex Love Author:Philip Kitcher
“Klaus Mann saw very clearly how different was his own (more liberated) form of homosexuality from the same-sex attractions of his father - and that is reiterated in TM's diary queries about "how two men can sleep together".” MenTwoDifferentTogetherFormFatherSexSleepSawsAttractionHomosexualityDiariesLiberatedQueries Author:Philip Kitcher
“The classical allusions and the Platonic disquisitions on beauty are no longer a form of cover, but integral to Aschenbach's complex sexuality. Moreover, the wandering around Venice in pursuit of Tadzio isn't a prelude to some sexual contact for which Aschenbach is yearning.” FormComplexesSexualityPursuitContactWanderYearningVeniceAllusionPlatonicPreludeWandering Around Author:Philip Kitcher
“Britten's opera tends to see things in simpler terms. It portrays an Aschenbach who wants a richer form of sexual fulfillment, and who is hemmed in by the social conventions to which he subscribes. But Visconti's use of the Mahler Adagietto is perfect for what I take to be Aschenbach's sexual desire.” WantUseFormDesireSocialTermPerfectFulfillmentConventionsOperaSexual DesireMahler Author:Philip Kitcher
“Schopenhauer's thought that Will is insatiable, that once satisfied in one form it must be expressed in new desires, is inherited both by Mann and by Aschenbach (it's in Mahler, as well). So life is inevitably incomplete.” WellsFormLife IsDesireSatisfiedIncompleteInsatiableMahler Author:Philip Kitcher
“Both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are inexhaustible. They are celebrations of the ordinary, compelling reactions to philosophical elitism about "the good life". I hope to examine both of them further, doing more justice to Joycean comedy than I did in my "invitation" to the Wake, and trying to understand how the extraordinary stylistic innovations, particularly the proliferation of narrative forms, enable Joyce to "see life foully" from a vast number of sides.” TryingFormSidesJusticeNumbersComedyOrdinaryInnovationPhilosophicalExtraordinaryReactionsNarrativeGood LifeCelebrationCompellingInvitationsProliferationElitismJoyceUlyssesFinnegans Wake Author:Philip Kitcher
“Secular humanists should recognize those forms of religion as allies in the struggle for human advancement. They should also learn from them, as they try to build a fully secular world in which people can have the opportunity to live rich and fulfilling lives.” PeopleWorldShouldTryingHumansFormOpportunityStruggleRichAlliesSecularFulfillingAdvancementFulfilling Life Author:Philip Kitcher
“In my current work on global warming, I argue that the only apparent solution to the deep problem of climate change would require very large transfers of wealth from rich nations to poor nations, so that the entire world can make the transition to renewable forms of energy as fast as possible.” WorldProblemFormEnergyNationsWealthPoorRichSolutionsClimateClimate ChangeCurrentsArguingGlobal WarmingTransitionTransfersPoor Nations Author:Philip Kitcher
