Uneven Development: Nature, Capital, and the Production of Space by Neil Smith is a seminal work in marxist geography first published in 1984. He and David Harvey were two of the great interpreters of Marx and geography during the 1980s and are still active today.
Nature and space are, according to Smith, produced through social interactions and altered, over time, by the development of capitalism. The developmental story is the standard one found in Marx, starting with the use of nature to fulfill human needs, the gradual accumulation of surplus value from nature, and the eventual arrival of capitalism, which extends accumulation into a worldwide phenomenon.
Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Rereading after seeing previews for the upcoming movie. Movie looks good. Book is still pretty good as well.
Choices, by Michael D. Resnik Primer on decision theory, probability, and game theory from a philosopher’s point of view. Good stuff as a reference. 3. Fashionable Nonsense, Bruce Wilshire
Rutger’s philosopher attacks ‘analytic philosophy’ and over-professionalization of philosophy. Not quite clear on what his alternative program would be but he does give some good props to the American pragmatists and hints at a more phenomenological point of view.
Charlie Stross gets things going with a post about the dissipated habits of current science fiction. Chad Orzel says not so fast, you foreigner science fiction hasn’t dissipated it’s just been outflanked by wacky internet fads. John Scalzi pipes up with a comment about how American just don’t care what other people think of our politics and John M. Ford tells it like it is - selective futurism.
I think something has happened to science fiction and fantasy in the last two decades.
Well Pinky and the Brain is now out on DVD but I’m just sitting around reading: Way Station by Simak, Sign of Four by Conan Doyle, Lord Jim by Conrad, Refuse to Choose by Sher.
More to come tomorrow. A real topic - anniversary and historical combined into one.