by Ed Mooney
Face it, you’re a computer! I’d be happy if I could remember where in my browsing I encountered this argument clincher. I was many hours removed from that first (and only) encounter — “Face it, you’re only a computer!” — when I realized that the triumphant argument clincher didn’t really stop the discussion. It would be equally true to blurt out “Face it, you’re flesh and blood!” or “Face it, you’re DNA!” or “Face it, you’re a Highly Evolved Mammal!” […]
by Ed Mooney
This morning light rain falls, winds ruffle the trees, birds frantically peck at my feeder. If I add a swath of green visible from my balcony, and notice the moist air enveloping the room, I begin to feel taken up, lifted by this fabric of things that shape and animate my morning and so animate me. My immediate surround is something like the weather, except it includes more than mists and winds — birds, grass, trees, the discrete pace of […]
by Ed Mooney
I do not follow the decisions of the Supreme Court at all closely, but occasionally a decision arrives of such moment that one cannot help but take note. Such was the case with the decision delivered June 26 requiring states to recognize gay marriages. Prohibitions in place in 13 states were struck down. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority of the Court. Here are his eloquent and moving final words: No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies […]
by Ed Mooney
I remember a long book review from the 90s of a well-known New York film critic’s collection of weekly reports. The reviewer of the collected reports noted that of the 163 films that were considered, the critic only gave a positive grade to four. The tale is not apocryphal, and is worth retelling because we tend to think that critique or review is finding fault. But there’s a kind of reading that can be affirmative through and through. What I […]
by Ed Mooney
Sometimes philosophical queries peep out of the news, just beneath straightforward reporting. I began reading in Haaratz (an Israeli newspaper) expecting only news and the usual political rancor. But something philosophical or conceptual crept in, the issue of Israeli identity—not unlike the question of personal identity. Haaretz reported a conference presentation by Israel’s President Reuvin Rivlin. Although he’s assessing his country’s long-term prospects, it’s neither a campaign speech nor an obvious part of ongoing debates. It is curiously detached, yet […]
Categories: Ed Mooney, ZiR • Tags: philosophy, politics
by Ed Mooney
I know of few accounts in the press that make sense of a commitment many of us feel to sustain the arts of reading and writing we were taught were the heart of a humanistic education, and near the heart of a culture we could embrace. We have writers who cite the benefits of critical thinking and writing skills for those entering business or the professions. We have scholars who should know better – Stanley Fish, for one – announcing […]
by Ed Mooney
I’ve just finished listening to a talk given in London by Daniel Barenboim, conductor at La Scala, and known for his beautiful renditions of Chopin and Schubert. He is less known for his work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra of Seville, whose players are young Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli, Syrian, and Egyptian musicians. Barenboim is a citizen of both Argentina and Israel. He formed the orchestra in 1999 with the Columbia University Professor, Edward Said. Said was a Palestinian-American music lover, […]
Categories: Ed Mooney, ZiLL • Tags: Daniel Barenboim, Edward Said, Israel, music, Palestine-Israel conflict
by Ed Mooney
Memorial Day in the States is a long weekend when many of us go to the beach or a park or have a special picnic with friends and family. I ended up at Portland Head Light where the memorials consisted mainly of stones by the overlooks inscribed with the names not of fallen soldiers but of wealthy donors who in the last decade have funded the small park that embraces the Light. Portland Head was commissioned by George Washington. It’s […]
Categories: Ed Mooney, ZiLL • Tags: death, Israel, Memorial Day, philosophy
by Ed Mooney
I had the pleasure this week of visiting the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I hadn’t been in the museum since the addition of a magnificent new wing – a light steel and glass edifice, in places nearly transparent. It contrasts robustly with the gathering steps, fluted pillars, pediment, and tympanum of the original early twentieth century neoclassical building. Inside the new wing, the three-storied walls of glass in the restaurant area allow sunlight […]
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