Philosophy in Recent American Fiction: Descartes’ “I think” is overrated

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Descartes’ “I think” is overrated

An epoch after Descartes scarred us with the disembodied "I think, therefor I am," Humboldt invited us to read the poetry of nature and think about science in a lovely way best described as "I feel, therefore I understand"

https://www.themarginalian.org/2025/10/16/humboldt-cosmos-nature/

Phil.Oliver@mtsu.edu

👣Solvitur ambulando

💭Sapere aude

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MAR 31 continue Playground, -292... Sign up for FINAL REPORT PRESENTATIONS. You can choose to do something pertaining to what is assigned to the class on your requested date, OR you can select an additional text and/or author of your own choosing (as detailed on the syllabus) to report on... Regarding GRADES, as noted in class: I will drop your lower exam score and double the higher, at semester's end, to apportion the 50 available exam points. And I expect most of you will earn most or all of the available presentation points. Points for the second presentation will be combined with those for a final blog post complementing it. We'll discuss the blog posts later.

Richard Powers, Playground

New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize Longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize As Seen on CBS Saturday Morning • A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • One of the Ten Best Books of the Year, according to the Washington Post and AARP • A Time Must-Read Book of the Year • An NPR "Books We Love" Pick • An Economist, New Yorker, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year "Prepare to be awed.… [A]stonishing." —Ron Charles, Washington Post The magisterial novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory and Bewilderment. Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic novel from Richard Powers, showcasing the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita grows up on naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. Two polar opposites at an elite Chicago high school bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game; Rafi Young will get lost in literature, while Todd Keane’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough. They meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia, whose deposits of phosphorus once helped to feed the world. Now the tiny atoll has been chosen for humanity’s next adventure: a plan to send floating, autonomous cities out onto the open sea. But first, the island’s residents must vote to greenlight the project or turn the seasteaders away. Set in the world’s largest ocean, this awe-filled book explores that last wild place we have yet to colonize in a still-unfolding oceanic game, and interweaves beautiful writing, rich characterization, profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity in a way only Richard Powers can. W.W. Norton https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324123736 Richard Powers is the author of fourteen novels, including The Overstory, Bewilderment, and Orfeo. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Award. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. http://www.richardpowers.nethttps://wwnorton.com/author/15239

Philosophy in Recent American Fiction

Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Descartes’ “I think” is overrated

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