Tag: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

May 25, 2015  |  No Comments

When I was in medical school, a GI surgeon opened a lecture with a statement I’m sure has never been uttered before or since. “I have a confession to make,” he said with a weird grin. “I love infected pancreatic necrosis.” This surgeon, who so enjoyed the debridement of dead pancreas, had an infamous temper … Read More

May 20, 2015  |  No Comments

Paysannes: Madame Bovary Part III

“The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth / Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

What’s the difference between a work of art and a dream? Literary critic Jacques Barzun gives a concise and convincing answer: “the difference between a work of art and a dream is precisely this, that the work of art leads us back to the outer reality by taking account of it.” (Quoted by Lionel Trilling, … Read More

January 20, 2012  |  No Comments

In Lincoln-Douglas-style debates in high school, Locke and Rousseau used to be paired off against each other; Locke would be called in against some proposition meant to protect the public good, but deemed by the ‘negative’ side incompatible with vital individual liberties; and Rousseau would be called upon by the ‘affirmative’ side in support of … Read More