Bøger af Joshua Heter

What sort of thing is Post-Punk?  Is it merely a musical genre, an artistic movement, or something else altogether?  What is the proper role of emotion in the intellectual life?  Is any attempt to be cool an inherently losing battle; should I embrace my eccentricities?  Does a counterculture need to care about change, or can it simply focus on its art?  Are nihilism and love compatible?  Is the best way to deal with a bleak worldview simply to embrace it through art?  How much should we care (if at all) about the moral failings of the artists whose work we love so much?  What exactly is authenticity, and how important is it?  As a result of so much thoughtful artistry and music-making, the editors of this book were fortunate enough to bring together the talented authors whose work comprises it as they raise, clarify, and even attempt to answer some of these questions. Thankfully, their creativity and innovation are worthy of the Post-Punk creatives about which they’ve written.  And, their varied and eclectic perspectives are akin to the variety of influences that led to and help make Post-Punk such a unique and beloved art form.  So, that’s how we got here; through and past the downward spiral of Punk’s initial wave, alternative rock music came out stronger and even more diverse and compelling with the advent of Post-Punk, and we are now in a position to reflect deeply on the movement as a whole.  Perhaps if we think carefully enough about it all, we might even be able to discover where we go from here.” (From the editors’ introduction, “Well, How Did We Get Here?”)

"The Godfather and Philosophy is aimed at thoughtful fans of the Godfather franchise. It comprises twenty-eight chapters by philosophers, who reflect upon the ethical and metaphysical issues raised in the Godfather novels and movies, beginning with the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo and the 1972 movie by Francis Ford Coppola. The Godfather saga has had a profound impact on American cinema, storytelling, thinking about crime, and popular culture in general. Among the questions tackled in these provocative philosophical chapters are the immigrant experience in America, the relation between ethics and the law, the nature of moral corruption, private justice and vigilantism, organized crime and the American Dream, betrayal and forgiveness, religion and family values, the difficulties of breaking out of a dysfunctional way of life, and the uncertain consequences of vice laws. Joshua Heter teaches philosophy at Jefferson College, Missouri. He co-edited Punk Rock and Philosophy: Research and Destroy (2022). Richard Greene teaches philosophy at Weber State University, Utah. He wrote the definitive and highly acclaimed book, Spoiler Alert! (It's a Book about the Philosophy of Spoilers) (2019)"--

"All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind." Karl Marx might have been thinking of punk rock when he wrote these words in 1847, but he overlooked the possibility that new forms of solidity and holiness could spring into existence overnight. Punk rock was a celebration of nastiness, chaos, and defiance of convention, which quickly transcended itself and developed its own orthodoxies, shibboleths, heresies, and sectarian wars. Is punk still alive today? What has it left us with? Does punk make any artistic sense? Is punk inherently anarchist, sexist, neo-Nazi, Christian, or-perish the thought-Marxist? When all's said and done, does punk simply suck? These obvious questions only scratch the surface of punk's philosophical ramifications, explored in depth in this unprecedented and thoroughly nauseating volume. Thirty-two professional thinkers-for-a-living and students of rock turn their x-ray eyes on this exciting and frequently disgusting topic, and penetrate to punk's essence, or perhaps they end up demonstrating that it has no essence. You decide. Among the nail-biting questions addressed in this book:? Can punks both reject conformity to ideals and complain that poseurs fail to confirm to the ideals of punk?? How and why can social protest take the form of arousing revulsion by displaying bodily functions and bodily abuse?? Can punk ethics be reconciled with those philosophical traditions which claim that we should strive to become the best version of ourselves?? How close is the message of Jesus of Nazareth to the message of punk?? Is punk essentially the cry of cis, white, misogynist youth culture, or is there a more wholesome appeal to irrepressibly healthy tendencies like necrophilia, coprophilia, and sadomasochism?? In its rejection of the traditional aesthetic of order and complexity, did punk point the way to "aesthetic anarchy," based on simplicity and chaos?? By becoming commercially successful, did punk fail by its very success?? Is punk what Freddie Nietzsche was getting at in The Birth of Tragedy, when he called for Dionysian art, which venerates the raw, instinctual, and libidinous aspects of life?