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Wandering the information superhighway, he came upon the last refuge of civilization, PoFo, the only forum on the internet ...

Discuss literary and artistic creations, or post your own poetry, essays etc.
Forum rules: No one line posts please.
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By Apollos
#651799
No, David Hume was not an agnostic. Hume was an atheist. I suggest that you go back and read his work again (I'm assuming that you read it a first time).


Yes, but Hume was an atheist on the grounds that he could not know a God existed. Also, the logical consequence of atheism and agnosticism is nihilism. The ideas flow together.
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By Ombrageux
#651830
Dude, just about every conflict in the modern world can be fitted to into the civilizationist paradigm. He doesn't ignore intra-civilizational conflicts, but he predicts or rather according to his paradigm, they should be short and small.

But he provides no reason why suddenly people are going to forget they are Shia and Sunni, Protestant and Catholic, Kurd and Arab, Japanese and Chinese. No is denying that many conflicts are ethnic or cultural in nature. I could very well believe we will enter an age of "clash of cultures". But "clash of civilizations" as if civilizations are huge monolithic blocs is total gibberish.

A few protracted and lethal modern conflicts that undermine the intellectual usefulness of "civilization" (but not of culture):
- Northern Ireland
- The Kurds vis a vis Turkey and Iraq
- The Iran-Iraq War
- Nepalese Civil War
- Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Most of these conflicts are cultural or ethnic ones, but they are not civilizational one. The civilization, a big lumping of people based on religion according Huntington, is not and will not be a useful intellectual unit. Another example would be Bulgaria, Romania and Greece's happy alignment with the West despite all be overwhelmingly orthodox. Intracivilizational cultural differences are just as important, if not more so, than intercivilization cultural differences.

Cultural is important, but not civilization.
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By Clann
#658750
Blanketmen - Richard O'Rawe
By Steven_K
#658754
This is the place for over the top pretentiousness, right?

In that case, I'm reading:

John Ralston Saul - The Collapse of Globalism
Descartes - Metaphysics and Other Writings
Bertrand Russel - A History of Western Philosophy
Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil
Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse
By Seán Himmelb(L)au
#659053
And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave.
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By Potemkin
#659057
And The Ass Saw The Angel


Sounds like the title of a porno movie. ;)
By Ixa
#661076
I am currently reading Pierre by Herman Melville.

I love the way he rambles and digresses in his works. Usually I disfavour that, but Melville's ramblings and digressions are so well phrased and intellectually stimulating that I am willing to make an exception with him (and a couple of other writers).

Has anyone here read Melville ?
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By Potemkin
#661086
Has anyone here read Melville

Yes: 'Moby Dick', 'Bartleby' and some of his short stories.

Genius. Image
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By galactus
#661115
I don't think there ever was a good translation of any of Melville's works to Swedish, hence they are not common knowledge over here. I dunno how many "Call me Ishmael" jokes I have pulled that have resulted in an confused stare.
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By Andres
#661137
When on the bus, train and during breakfast.
First World War by Martin Gilbert

And at irregular intervals during the day
Geometry, topology and physics by Mikio Nakahara
By Bricktop
#661549
Right now I'm reading -

Sophocles - The Oedipus Plays
Graham Greene - The Quiet American

ahem
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By QatzelOk
#661552
On bus to and from Toronto I read:

It's the Crude, Dude
Linda McQuaig
...incendiary new book tells us how the world’s most powerful industry and history’s most lethal army are having their way with the planet.


Arab Historians on the Crusades
Several authors [Usama, et al]
Saladin comes off rather well in this collection. The Franks are always referred to as "The Franks - may God damn them - "
Enjoyable reading for readers still able to spot 'good' guys and 'bad' invaders.
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By Soma
#661676
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (in bed)

Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (stays in my bag so that I can read it wherever I go)
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By Xopolis
#661824
The Serpent And The Rainbow - Wade Davis

Hells Angels At War - Yves Lavigne

Arms and the man : Dr. Gerald Bull, Iraq and the supergun - William Lowther
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By Vanasalus
#662082
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk

Anyone interested in capturing the essence of orientalism should not miss this novel. But, it is a little bit abstract and you need concentrate focus while reading.

Anyone, who will fall in love (if not hate) with Mr.Pamuk, may continue with "The White Castle", "The Black Book", "Snow" and "Istanbul : Memories and the City"
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By Lokakyy
#663531
Salam Pax - The Baghdad Blog

Read part of this after the Iraq war, but bought the book when saw it in a bargain bin.
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