A few months back Brendan did a rather wonderful feature on Alcoholics Anonymous . He’s followed that up on his blog, chiming in on Sheen’s claim that AA is a hustle: I learned enough in the course of my reporting to know that Sheen’s attacks are wholly unoriginal, especially his insistence that AA’s “success rate” is a mere five percent. (That oft-quoted stat is based on a misreading of a 20-year-old AA member survey.) Yet Sheen is, indeed, correct in asserting that there are many paths to sobriety, and that one needn’t follow the 12 Steps in order to recover.  My main takeaway from Sheen’s tirades is that AA is unique in its ability to inspire such passionate love and hate. Those who stay in the program credit the Steps with, quite literally, saving their lives; those who choose another path to sobriety claim it’s a cult every bit as creepy as the People’s Temple. Brendan grabs this quote from the cutting room floor to help explain why AA is so divisive: The rigidity of the program is what turns off most prospective members, especially those who chafe at any tinge of religion. “You have to be pretty strong,” says Lee Ann Kaskutas, senior scientist at the Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, Calif. “You have to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to smile and not get upset and not get hurt when someone tells me to get on my knees and pray. I’m not going to argue.’ Because you really can’t argue with them about the philosophy. It’s not up for debate.”

More:
Fact-Checking Charlie Sheen

Bettany Hughes examines the life and death of Socrates, and the city that nurtured and killed him.

See the rest here:
Wise Guy

Teach what you know: that’s the philosophy actor James Franco will take into a Columbia College Hollywood classroom for a class called “Master Class: Editing James Franco… with James Franco.” It’s the latest addition to a busy schedule that has…

Read more:
James Franco to Teach Course on Himself

Two eminent philosophy professors take aim at contemporary nihilism in this idiosyncratic tour of the classics.

Continue reading here:
What It All Means

Can fiction be philosophical? Even novelists trained in philosophy have sometimes insisted no.

See the rest here:
Essay: The Philosophical Novel

Featuring the philosopher Sean Dorrance Kelly on the classics of Western literature; and James Ryerson on novelists who are trained philosophers.

Follow this link:
Paper Cuts: Book Review Podcast: Philosophy Edition

C. Bradley Thompson, a political science professor at Clemson University, has recently teamed up with Yaron Brook to write Neoconservatism: An Obiturary for an Idea, a classical-liberal critique of the neoconservative movement. The book systematically examines the economic, political, and cultural underpinnings of neoconservatism, exploring its relationship to the philosophy of Leo Strauss and its influential and menacing ideas about warfare. I put six questions to Thompson about the book: . . .

Excerpt from:
SCOTT HORTON—The Death of Neoconservatism: Six Questions for C. Bradley Thompson

The historian James T. Kloppenberg has written a book about President Obama, whom he sees as a rare breed in America, a kind of philosopher president.

See the original post here:
In Writings of Obama, a Philosophy Is Unearthed

Range Rover’s Design Director discusses their all-new, sustainable, city-focused car Yesterday in Paris Range Rover launched the Evoque , a sporty, stylish and more sustainable SUV. Gerry McGovern, Design Director for the brand, used the word “relevant” to describe the primary design goal for the vehicle. The notion of creating a car for today’s tech-savvy and earth-conscious city-dweller originally transpired as the LRX concept vehicle, first shown in 2008. It was so well received that little changed in translating the LRX to the Evoque. When Range Rover invited me to their big debut, I gladly accepted to see the new creation first hand. The Evoque maintains the standard of luxury that Range Rovers are known for, using the same premium materials seen in their top-of-the-line vehicles. And while the design language is unmistakably Range Rover, the form is decidedly smaller and more aggressive. By using lighter materials, offering a front-wheel drive option paired with a turbo diesel engine, the most efficient configuration offers a shocking 58 mile per gallon estimated fuel rating. The Paris debut only included the coupe, but the company did announce that a 5-door will be offered as well (pictured above). There will be a variety of configurations available including front or four-wheel drive, turbo-diesel or gas engines, a full sized and unobstructed glass roof, and three different trims that range from simple to aggressive. Tech options include support for Bluetooth streaming audio, a surround camera system and an eight inch dual-view nav screen that lets the passenger and driver see different information or content. Gerry McGovern, Range Rover Design Director Such a bold move from a car company known for making big vehicles is not a surprise given today’s consumer demands. The fact that they executed this challenge so well is a tribute to their design team. To learn more about this I sat down with Gerry McGovern, Range Rover’s Design Director who uniquely oversees both product design and marketing for the brand. The interview, which starts below and continues after the jump touches on changes in design culture, the notion of relevance and Miesian philosophies. Cool Hunting Tell me a little bit about your background, both in terms of design work and specifically Range Rover. Gerry McGovern Let me start from the very beginning. I’ve always been in the design business. I probably describe myself more as a design nut than a car nut. And what I mean by that is like collectors tend to collect old cars and stuff, I tend to collect pieces of modernist furniture and art, and glass. I was most interested in architecture, not in car design. I just designed a house in Britain with a British architect. Part of my job is really to understand what this sort of luxury business is all about, luxury experience and that sort of thing that I’m interested in. I did train as a product designer. I’ve held various positions. I’ve done quite a lot of cars in my time. I was at Land Rover before then I went off to America and was the Design Director at Lincoln Mercury in the states for a number of years, based in California. CH You’ve been back at Land Rover for about 5 years now. How are you doing things differently? GM So one of the things I started doing was saying well, Land Rover has been around for 60 years essentially now, Range Rover for 40. We sell now in 167 different countries and we’ve got this design philosophy that’s developed over all those years. A lot of that design philosophy is rooted in heritage and function in particular. We have call the design bible and while I accept it and acknowledge and respect where we’ve come from, my view on it was we have to be absolutely focused on the future. So I need to recognize that, respect it, and discover where we are and define where we want to go. The driver for me for defining where we wanted to go was just one word— relevance . What is gonna make us relevant in a world that’s changing, particularly in respect to sustainability, the center of people’s values. For example, the luxury business, luxury customers, they’re not buying the brand trophies anymore. They want to believe in brands that have integrity, that have longevity, that stand for something either ethically or emotionally. I take on this sort of Chief Creative Officer role for the brand as well, and what that means is looking at the tonality toward touch points of dealerships, showrooms, advertising, brochures. And that area of the business has always been within marketing, but I’ve been called upon to look at it in terms of giving support and guidance to make sure we get the continuity of brand message in visual terms. Because if accept the notion that design is conduit, it communicates what the brand stands for, then clearly it needs to be a consistent point of view. CH What does this mean in terms of designing cars? GM The LRX was a manifestation of a different point of view for Range Rover particularly, because at that time we called it a Land Rover, but as we developed it became clear it needed to be a Range Rover particularly because of its emphasis on cleanliness. Evoque the first of a new generation of Range Rovers—it’s the third car line for Range Rover. It’s clear where we want to take the brand in terms of the emphasis on luxury. There’s still a level of integrity and capability. If we never talked capability ever again, quite frankly we’d still be renowned for it; people know we can do it and it’ll always be there. But we’ve got to represent other values as well. Now we’re also in the process of redefining what Land Rover stands for as a brand because we do have this slight dilemma in that the business started as Land Rover, that’s the brand; and then Range Rover is a nameplate within it. Of course, Range Rover has become equal in terms of equity, a problem also in certain markets. So there is this sort of dilemma… do we have one brand, two brands, actually we are at least two brands in most people’s perceptions. CH One of the key words that you used was relevance . Was that part of the design philosophy that drove the LRX concept, or was that something that was more critical during the process of taking the LRX concept and turning it in to the Evoque? GM Relevance was right there at the start, and that was the word I brought to the business in some respects. It was easy for me because I was coming from outside and I’d been there before. I said actually, you’re talking about the same feature you were talking about when I left 10 years ago. And actually what you need to do is say what is going to be relevant to people. So then the relevance came through clearly in terms of the focus on sustainability, it’s size, the smallest, lightest Range Rover ever. CH So to make it more sustainable you had to make the Evoque a lot smaller than a typical Range Rover. GM Yeah, the scale of it is a direct consequence. We know it will appeal to a lot more women, not because it’s feminine—some people say it’s a little bit feminine—it’s not feminine, it’s actually good looking. It’s very dramatic. It still has the level of visual robustness although it’s smaller, which I think has universal appeal to women because it’s easy to maneuver in town particularly. It’s gonna be focused. It’s a much more urban orientation. CH In terms of the design of the form, if you’d take all the badging off, it’s still clearly Range Rover. Can you articulate what it is about the design language that is really consistent through all the different vehicles? GM Well, remember this is the first in a new generation, and for me, the inspiration is Mies Van Der Rohe. He said something once that really resonated, well, it’s gone down in history and everybody knows the words, they don’t necessarily know who said it, but “less is more.” And that’s the philosophy that I have, that isn’t less is more in pairing down, it’s purely minimalist and cold and bare and all the rest of it. But what I said to the team was we need to minimize the design cues, but still be able to say it’s a Range Rover. For me, in that vehicle, it’s a couple of things. It’s the floating roof, back pillows, the overall visual robustness of the car, it’s shoulders particularly. And then things like clamshell hood. And that’s it. But those are so strong that when you look at that car, it’s like no other Range Rover you’ve seen before, clearly, but it’s still a Range Rover. CH So then what parts of the classic design were you able to shed? GM Equal glass to body relationship, was one of them. This is not equal glass to body relationship. That’s very much a big Range Rover cue which talks to the sense of occasion when you’re driving. When you’re driving off road you’re sitting higher and you can look down at people. People say it’s because the Queen drove it and she liked to look down at the peasants there. Um, the castellations on the body, so when you’re driving off road you know exactly where your two corners are. You don’t probably need them, the cameras will tell you where you are. The actual clamshell body design, another cue, so you could maximize ingress into the engine bay. Well again, cars are so sophisticated now, how often do you really need to look there, you just need to wire them up into a computer. So that was what I’m trying to say in terms of how many of these design cues are actually relevant in the amount of context. If some of them remain clearly as a visual there’s nothing wrong with that. At Land Rover for a long time, design was felt to be a consequence of what the vehicle had to do. What I’m saying is design is more important than that. If you accept the notion that great design is the gateway to customer desirability, it’s about making that emotional connection. The philosophy of design as a consequence and the idea that form has to follow function will not get you there.

See original here:
Evoque

A primer on the pioneering lifestyle store that introduced good design to the people Before Crate & Barrel and Design Within Reach, there was Design Research, the retail concept widely credited with reinventing furniture shopping by pioneering a lifestyle approach that changed the look of bedrooms and stores from coast to coast. The brainchild of architect Ben Thompson, he founded a new way of decorating and living when he opened his first Design Research store in 1953 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a story chronicled in the new book ” Design Research: The Store That Brought Modern Living to American Homes .” Through photos, press clippings and other ephemera, the Pentagram-designed primer outlines his philosophy and the impact of breaking away from mass-produced furniture sold through dominant mega-department stores. His widow Jane Thompson, founder of I.D. magazine, architect and urban planner, weighs in too, documenting how her husband not only introduced “lifestyle” under one retail shopping roof, but popularized the idea that good design should be accessible to everyone in postwar America. Design Research became an influential modernist mini-chain that mixed design objects from Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen with French rustic pottery, no-name Bolivian sweaters and $1 Mexican drinking glasses. For fashion in the late 50s, just when women sought equality in society, Design Research became the first representative for Marimekko’s loose, colorful and graphic shifts. Fashion had gone from tight waists, pointy bosoms and round hips to the tent-like chemise. American women embraced the untraditional, “high casual” style that gave them permission to move freely in comfort. For Ben, modernism didn’t mean minimalism, oversimplification or monochrome. He believed that people should be encouraged to imagine for themselves what their homes could be inside. All they needed was a forum of the best available national and international goods to pick from. He built a retail store that was a department store without the departments, hence creating “lifestyle.” Design Research went on to have stores in New York and San Francisco, among other cities, through the late ’60s, inspiring budding retailer entrepreneurs like Gordon Segal, co-founder of Crate & Barrel, and Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach. Segal was directly influenced by DR in 1965 when he realized a store’s environment, visual display and music were integral to how it made a customer feel. As a teenager in 1968, Forbes fell under the spell of modern design, when he saw a friend’s home outfitted with DR goods. Pick up “Design Research” directly from the publisher, Chronicle Books or get it from Amazon .

Go here to see the original:
Design Research

A new hybrid catamaran with wings from the makers of the world’s fastest sailboat by Meehna Goldsmith The brainchild of French yachtsman Alain Th

This article titled “A conversation with Stephen Hawking, aged five years old” was written by Mark Vernon, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 4th September 2010 14.00 UTC

Imagine Stephen Hawking is reincarnated, and this time round his father is a philosopher. One day, when little Stephen is about five years old, they’re sitting in the summer house with Fido, their pet dog. And Stephen asks one of those questions children love to repeat.

Daddy. Yes Stephen? Why is Fido? Well, Stephen, Fido had a mummy and daddy like you.

Yeah but, why is Fido? Err, you mean why is he a dog? That’s because his parents were dogs, and his parent’s parents were dogs too. They belong to what we call the same species. (Stephen is precocious in this life too.)

But why is Fido? Well, we know that Fido’s parent’s parent’s parent’s parents – a long way back – were not dogs, but were wolves. That was before human beings made them pets.

Oh. Why is Fido? Before there were wolves there was another species out of which wolves grow. We call it evolution, Stephen, and it’s a very important process in the natural world.

Ev-o-lu-tion. (Stephen likes the feel of that word.) But why is Fido? Before that species, there was another, and another, and another, all the way back to tiny animals we call cells.

Why IS Fido? You’re asking about biochemistry now. Err, roughly you can say that when the stuff of which everything is made is put together in a very complicated way – like a fantastic lego puzzle – then it takes on this very special property we call life.

WHY IS FIDO? Before life, there was just stuff – matter. It hung around for many billions of years on planet earth.

But why is FIDO? Before the earth, there were stars, and galaxies, subatomic particles and strange things like black holes. (Stephen has the very strange feeling that he knows all about black holes, even though he’s only five.)

Yeah but, why is Fido? Scientists think it all started with a big bang, Stephen, a kind of spontaneous eruption out of which everything came.

Wow! Why is Fido? The big bang must have happened because of the laws of physics.

BUT WHY IS FIDO?

(At this point Stephen’s father pauses. Being a philosopher, he realises that Stephen is now asking a very different question to all the ones he’s asked before. You see, before, his questions could be answered with reference to some preceding state of affairs, out of which Fido can be said to have come. Now, though, he is asking about where everything came from, and being everything, there is no antecedent reality to refer to. To start to talk of nothing, not even abstract laws of nature, let alone wildly compressed energy, is to try to put everything in the context of nothing. But nothing is precisely that: not a quantum field fluctuating in the vacuum, not one universe springing out of a multiverse. Nothing is more radical than that. It is nothing. It’s impossible to conceive of, in fact. It’s no wonder Stephen’s father pauses.)

I’m not sure we can ask that question, Stephen. It makes no sense.

But I want to know: why is Fido?

Well, some say the universe just is. There’s a famous philosopher from about 100 years ago, Bertrand Russell, and he thought that.

(Stephen harrumphs.) But why is Fido?

There is another answer.

Yes? (Stephen sits up.)

Well, it’s not exactly an answer.

Oh?

More like a mystery.

I like mysteries.

But I’m not sure you’re going to like this one.

Tell me!

Well, there was another philosopher who was a friend of Bertrand Russell, in fact. He was called Ludwig Wittgenstein, and he said, “Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery.”

Wow!

And the mystery is sometimes given a name.

What’s the name?

It’s called God.

(With thanks to Herbert McCabe)

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.