Author: Andrew Hui
Aphorisms — or philosophical short sayings — appear everywhere, from Confucius to Twitter, the Buddha to the Bible, Heraclitus to Nietzsche. Yet despite this ubiquity, the aphorism is the least studied literary form. What are its origins? How did it develop? How do religious or philosophical movements arise from the enigmatic sayings of charismatic leaders? And why do some of our most celebrated modern philosophers use aphoristic fragments to convey their deepest ideas? In A Theory of the Aphorism, Andrew Hui crisscrosses histories and cultures to answer these questions and more.
With clarity and precision, Hui demonstrates how aphorisms — ranging from China, Greece, and biblical antiquity to the European Renaissance and 19th century— encompass sweeping and urgent programs of thought. Constructed as literary fragments, aphorisms open new lines of inquiry and horizons of interpretation. In this way, aphorisms have functioned as ancestors, allies, or antagonists to grand systems of philosophy.
Encompassing literature, philology, and philosophy, the history of the book and the history of reading, A Theory of the Aphorism invites us to reflect anew on what it means to think deeply about this pithiest of literary forms.
Andrew Hui is associate professor of humanities at Yale-NUS College, Singapore. He is the author of The Poetics of Ruins in Renaissance Literature.
What We Are Reading Today: A Theory of the Aphorism
What We Are Reading Today: A Theory of the Aphorism
What We Are Reading Today: John and Paul by Ian Leslie
Ian Leslie’s “John and Paul” traces the shared journey of John Lennon and Paul McCartney before, during and after The Beatles, offering us both a new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration, and human intimacy.
The two shared a private language, rooted in the stories, comedy and songs they both loved as teenagers, and later, in the lyrics of Beatles songs.
What We Are Reading Today: The Revolution to Come
- “The Revolution to Come” traces how evolving conceptions of history ushered in a faith in the power of revolution to create more just and reasonable societies
Author: Dan Edelstein
Political thinkers from Plato to John Adams saw revolutions as a grave threat to society and advocated for a constitution that prevented them by balancing social interests and forms of government.
“The Revolution to Come” traces how evolving conceptions of history ushered in a faith in the power of revolution to create more just and reasonable societies.
Taking readers from Greek antiquity to Leninist Russia, Dan Edelstein describes how classical philosophers viewed history as chaotic and directionless, and sought to keep historical change, especially revolutions, at bay.
What We Are Reading Today: Pronoun Trouble
- A prolific author of books on language, McWhorter continues to captivate readers with his trademark humour and flair
Author: John McWhorter
This concise overview of English pronouns covers various linguistic topics in an accessible manner. Author John McWhorter maintains a straightforward approach but incorporates engaging elements to keep the book captivating.
McWhorter’s writing style is consistently enjoyable.
He possesses a talent for simplifying complex concepts through humour and relatable examples from popular culture.
A prolific author of books on language, McWhorter continues to captivate readers with his trademark humour and flair. In this book, the renowned linguist and professor debunks myths and illuminates the history of the most contentious language topic: pronouns. McWhorter‚ presentation of linguistics and language evolution is clear, entertaining, and persuasive.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe and the Wolf’ by Sara Nadal-Mesio
In this stunningly original book, Sara Nadal-Melsio explores how the work of several contemporary artists illuminates the current crisis of European universalist values amid the brutal realities of exclusion and policing of borders.
The “wolf” is the name Baroque musicians gave to the dissonant sound produced in any attempt to temper and harmonize an instrument.
Europe and the Wolf brings this musical figure to bear on contemporary aesthetic practices that respond to Europe’s ongoing social and political contradictions.
Throughout, Nadal-Melsio understands Europe as a conceptual problem that often relies on harmonization as an organizing category.
The “wolf” as an emblem of disharmony, incarnated in the stranger, the immigrant, or the refugee, originates in the Latin proverb “man is a wolf to man.”
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Economics of Over-the-Counter Markets’
Authors: Julien Hugonnier, Benjamin Lester, And Pierre-Olivier Weill
Many of the largest financial markets in the world do not organize trade through an exchange but rather operate within a decentralized or over-the-counter structure.
Understanding how these markets work has become increasingly important in recent years, as illiquidity in certain OTC markets has appeared as the first signs of trouble—if not the cause itself—of the past two financial crises.
