culture

Girard believes that this concept permeates every aspect of society. “Enlightenment concepts of the individual persist all the way into existentialist thought,” he argues. In espousing equality between all men, the Enlightenment propagated the belief that the individual should not be subsumed to another. Indeed, the individual should not be... See more

The writing is getting better. The ideas are getting worse. There’s a new genre of essay that other academics reading this will instantly recognize, a clumsy collaboration between students and Silicon Valley. I call it glittering sludge .

iron law of the internet: any movement or subculture will be judged by its most cringe members

I know plenty of literate adults who can decode words, but who also appear to be lousy readers.

One thinks of Amit Majmudar, Christian Wiman, ­Tracy K. Smith, Ryan Wilson, and many others. These ­poets are only rarely published in prestigious publications (or, at least, publications with a prestigious legacy), and the group that should be the biggest supporter of these poets—conservatives—has tended to ignore poetry and the arts. When... See more

The simulacrum is never what hides the truth-it is truth that hides the fact that there is none. The simulacrum is true.

By mistaking language as merely a tool that’s a means to an end—little different from a spatula—too many people have lost sight of the fact that understanding language provides the basis of smart thinking.