Augusto Del Noce’s Turn From Marx

February 13, 2017 By Scott Beauchamp

Monumento Antonio Rosmini a Trento – Lungoleno – CC BY-SA 4.0 Nope, that’s not a monument to Twentieth Century Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce. He doesn’t have one (yet) that I’m aware of. That’s a monument to Antonio Rosmini, Italian “priest, philosopher, and patriot” who Del Noce contrasted with Nietzsche as presenting a clear line of thought into Modernity which preserves a deep engagement with metaphysics. As Del Noce has it, the most well-worn path of philosophy goes from Descartes to Nietzsche.... Read more

FJ: “Robin Egg Blue” – Cass McCombs

December 2, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

l’Ordre de Bon Temps

November 24, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

Ordre de bon temps – Jefferys, Charles William, 1869-1951 – Public Domain – Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, numéro d’acquisition 1996-282-3. Droit d’auteur: Expiré There’s been much strange back and forth on the Catholic blogosphere recently about the “true” history of Thanksgiving, whether or not it’s a “Catholic holiday”, etc. I don’t give a fig for all the argumentation (which is of course profoundly different from conversation), but I found this recent post in what I consider my local paper, The Bangor Daily... Read more

The Immunity of the Cool, or, Giving Up On Fariña

November 23, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

After collapsing back into Kerouac’s myth of the rainy American night, after having the chronically misunderstood ur-hipster gently purr the revealed wisdom of his tragic and saintly younger brother Gerard into my already bent ear, I decided to give another (slightly younger, a micro-generation younger) bohemian writer a try and read Richard Fariña’s Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Disastrous. Pynchon’s intro talks about Fariñas voice sounding like a chorus of 200 kazoos announcing…what? The language does... Read more

FJ: “Naima” – John Coltrane

November 11, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

Drizzly Comfort In The Duluoz Legend

November 11, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

It’s been a rough week. For me, some, but mostly for people I love who were more emotionally affected by the recent election than either of us could have predicted. I don’t usually speak with so naked a voice on here, but I’m moved to. When I was a teenager Kerouac changed my life. That might sound like a cliche to some, but in my little world I was one of the few (and at one high school ONLY) person I... Read more

FJ: “Nebula” – Julianna Barwick

November 4, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

Have you heard of her? I was recently introduced to her work by chance during a late drive back to Maine from a dinner in Boston with my father in law. The local NPR affiliate plays interesting shows in the later hours – mostly “underground” music – and I was able to catch a show called Echoes on which Julianna Barwick performed live. I was absolutely stunned. Her voice is beautiful and, as the host pointed out, her compositions remind one... Read more

FJ: “Lungs” – Townes Van Zandt

October 28, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

Presented without comment… Read more

Ockham Makes “Freedom” A Synonym Of “Will”

October 23, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp

William of Ockham in stained glass – Moscarlop – CC AA 3.0 OK, not the sexiest headline, but an accurate one – at least as (if) I understand Ockham. Building off of my project to understand acedia as it was articulated by the early Christians until Aquinas, I’ve sort of set myself on the long road to studying Saint Thomas more generally. A tall order, perhaps, but a fulfilling one if my experiences so far are any indication. And so part... Read more

FJ: “Govinda Jai Jai” – Alice Coltrane

October 21, 2016 By Scott Beauchamp