Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"
The Point’s writers and editors receive simultaneous instruction from, on the one hand, worldly events and daily experiences, and on the other hand the great lineage of humanistic thought that dwells on reality’s fundamental, unchanging truths. The humanistic magazine converses with the world, sometimes offering guidance, other times listening—but its defining aim is to contribute to public discourse. It is a bridge, in a way, between the active and contemplative lives." * Breaking Ground *
"There’s very little surprise in writing today. From the first sentences of most articles, you can tell which of a rather limited collection of categories the piece will fall into: wokeism or anti-wokeism, Trumpism or Resistance, generic secularism or uncritical progressivism or defensive traditionalism.
The Opening of the American Mind, a collection of essays from the first decade of
The Point magazine, is a welcome exception." * Plough *
“
The Point is unique among the intellectual journals of our time in its genuine openness to a range of perspectives, and its commitment to pluralism reflects a conviction that thought cuts deepest when it is permitted to find its own path. The essays in this volume are without exception lucid, striking, intelligent, and well argued; they are also idiosyncratic, surprising, and original. I don’t always agree with each author, but I leave each piece having learned something new.” -- Michael Clune, author of Gamelife: A Memoir
“It is no exaggeration to say that intellectual discourse in America is in a state of crisis, assaulted on both sides by the anti-intellectual and the overcorrecting. What we need is clear and rigorous public thinking capable of rendering our chaotic society and each other more legible. What we often get instead is tribal posturing, clichés of thought and language meant to signal neither openness nor generosity but conformity. This is why I am so grateful a venue as brilliantly multifaceted and fearless as
The Point is celebrating its first decade of intellectual stewardship. The American mind remains open.” -- Thomas Chatterton Williams, author of Self-Portrait in Black and White
Table of ContentsIntroduction Jon Baskin & Anastasia Berg
The End of the End of History Predatory Habits Etay Zwick
Hard Feelings Ben Jeffery
No Such Thing? Jonny Thakkar
Forward with Fukuyama Daniel Luban
After Ferguson Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul? Jesse McCarthy
Linked Fate Melina Abdullah
After Ferguson Brandon M. Terry
Final Fantasy Understanding Is Dangerous Kathryn Lofton
Midwestworld Meghan O’Gieblyn
Letter on Our President The Editors
Pleasure Won Lauren Berlant & Bea Malsky
Final Fantasy James Duesterberg
Tired of Winning Tired of Winning Jon Baskin
I Am Madame Bovary Anastasia Berg
Closing of the American Mind Jacob Hamburger
Switching Off Rachel Wiseman
Thinking Ahead Innocence Abroad Ursula Lindsey
This, Too, Was History Peter C. Baker
The Dictatorship of the Present John Michael Colón
Leaving Herland Nora Caplan-Bricker
It’s All Just Beginning Justin E. H. Smith
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
