Understanding Stalin. How did Stalin become Stalin?
Or, to put it more precisely: How did Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili—the grandson of serfs, the son of a washerwoman and a semiliterate cobbler—become Generalissimo Stalin, one of the most brutal mass murderers the world has ever known? How did a boy born in an obscure Georgian hill town become a dictator who controlled half of Europe? How did a devout young man who chose to study for the priesthood grow up to become a zealous atheist and Marxist ideologue? Under Freud’s influence, many ambitious biographers—not to mention psychologists, philosophers, and historians—have sought answers in their subject’s childhood.
Just as Hitler’s fanaticism has been “explained” by his upbringing, his sex life, or his alleged single testicle, so has Stalin’s psychopathic cruelty been attributed to the father who, in Stalin’s own words, “thrashed him mercilessly,” or to the mother who may have had an affair with a local priest. The Enlightenment's 'Race' Problem, and Ours. The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers and other thinkers on issues both timely and timeless.
In 1734, Anton Wilhelm Amo, a West African student and former chamber slave of Duke Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, defended a philosophy dissertation at the University of Halle in Saxony, written in Latin and entitled “On the Impassivity of the Human Mind.” A dedicatory letter was appended from the rector of the University of Wittenberg, Johannes Gottfried Kraus, who praised “the natural genius” of Africa, its “appreciation for learning,” and its “inestimable contribution to the knowledge of human affairs” and of “divine things.” Kraus placed Amo in a lineage that includes many North African Latin authors of antiquity, such as Terence, Tertullian and St. Augustine. Why have we chosen to go with Hume and Kant, rather than with the pre-racial conception of humanity? Photo In his lifetime, Amo was principally known as a legal theorist. Philosophers disagree.
Justin E. The Divine Comedy ("Rapture" by Blondie) Seventeen Moments. The Russian Revolution from W3 or Internet by trivto on deviantART. Earth revolves around the sun? 1 in 4 Americans say nope. Please let's be honest about this: knowledge is a dangerous thing.
If everyone knew everything, this would only lead to anarchy. There are some basics, however, that are always useful when chatting with strangers in bars or going on a blind date with a very attractive scientist. It helps, for example, to know that the Earth isn't the center of the universe. (There's at least a 30 percent chance that the attractive scientist might be from outer space.)
Not everyone, it seems, is aware that the sun doesn't in fact worship us by circling our planet in reverence. French Revolution Digital Archive. "Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem. The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union Union. Capitalism, Socialism & Communism: What They Are, Why They Don't Work, What Works Better.
What they are, why they don't work, and what works better Since the abandonment of communism by the former Soviet Union, the notion that capitalism is the only successful economic system has often been aggressively marketed in capitalistic media.
The view is lent apparent credibility by the fact that communism largely failed in its aims, and was corrupt, grossly inefficient, and totalitarian. We believe, however, this thesis concerning the triumph of capitalism is for the most part confused, and to the exent that it isn't confused is actually quite false. The case is confused because the essential nature of each of these economic systems is almost universally misunderstood, and perhaps the most confused understanding of all concerns the nature of capitalism.
It is also confused because the criteria of genuine economic success are never clearly or persuasively stated, rendering contentions of this nature meaningless. What is Capitalism? 7 Huge Misconceptions About Communism (and Capitalism) Photo Credit: By John Mayall [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons February 2, 2014 | Like this article?
Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Robert Reich: Why There’s No Outcry for a Revolution in America. Why There’s No Outcry for a Revolution in America Posted on Jan 27, 2014 By Robert Reich This post originally ran on Robert Reich’s Web page.
Sadler. HISTORIOGRAPHY OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. The French Revolution has perhaps attracted more attention in history than any other event and its study involves what other professional historians have said about it.
The ‘classic’ interpretation of the French Revolution in historical scholarship was the Marxist approach which sees the French Revolution as a bourgeois revolution, marked by class conflict. The French Revolution was not simply a political struggle from an absolute monarchy to democratic republicanism but represented a deeper shift from feudalism to capitalism. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Palace of Versailles - Google Art Project. 1300-1400 Proto-Renaissance. A comparison of Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna, c. 1280-90, with Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna, c. 1310—both in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker The Human BodyWe have bodies that exist in space, and this has been a fundamental challenge for artists through history. The ridiculous complexity of United Kingdom vs. Great Britain finally explained, by an American. To Our Faithful Current.com Users: Current's run has ended after eight exciting years on air and online.
Video and Infographic Explaining the Difference Between United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England. A Gothic Tour of Italy. Famous & Major Historical Events in World History. Photos of The Great War - Home. A Multimedia History of World War One. Smarthistory: a multimedia web-book about art and art history.
Salman Rushdie: Machiavelli’s Bad Rap.