Berlinophiles, Molesworthophiles

by Kieran Healy on July 10, 2003

A couple of people have wondered whether all the contributors to this blog are big fans of Isaiah Berlin, given that we’ve used one of his favorite quotes from Kant as our title. Not necessarily, I’d say. On the topic of even having a favorite quote from Kant, I’m sorry that I’ve packed away my copy of Alan Bennett’s Writing Home. Somewhere in his diary he has an entry that goes like this (I’m paraphrasing from memory here):

In today’s Times:

“Although Ken Dodd has read Kant, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Malcolm Muggeridge, Spinoza, Wilde and Wittgenstein on the subject of comedy, he is always careful not to appear a clever-clogs.”

I see he’s taking the Isaiah Berlin approach, then.

Conspicuously wearing your learning lightly is a venial rather than a mortal offence, but I think Berlin was guilty of it.

Incidentally, the singular of weetabix is of course “weetabic.” And while we’re making intra-blog comments, like Henry I am a fan of Nigel Molesworth, although — or because — like Henry (and probably also Patrick Neilsen Hayden) I’ve never been near an English Public School. You can’t fully understand Molesworth until you figure out the real name of his “grate friend Peason.”

{ 10 comments }

1

Jimmy Doyle 07.10.03 at 9:11 am

Pearson?

2

dsquared 07.10.03 at 9:52 am

“Weetabiscuit”. It was established in comments. I think someone wrote an email to McVities.

3

ore 07.10.03 at 2:26 pm

How bout fixing the god damn text on this blog? Too busy leading your academic jet set lives.

4

Cosma 07.10.03 at 2:46 pm

What’s wrong with their text?

5

Kate Nepveu 07.10.03 at 3:11 pm

(Psst. That’s “Nielsen Hayden”.)

6

Kieran Healy 07.10.03 at 3:19 pm

How bout fixing the god damn text on this blog?

IE5/Windows users have problems with text flowing over the column boundaries, because IE5 is broken (not our blog). We’re working on a fix, which will hopefully be ready soon. I’m not sure when exactly, because we’re

Too busy leading your academic jet set lives.

and we have conferences to go to, grad students to exploit etc, etc.

7

Allan Connery 07.10.03 at 6:41 pm

I always thought Weetabix was singular.
The plural, of course, is Weetabices.

8

Stentor 07.10.03 at 11:49 pm

Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg says it’s Weetabique. (http://www.brunching.com/orderofthecerealunit.html)

9

Jimmy Doyle 07.11.03 at 10:44 am

(Cough) Pearson?

10

Lena Patel 09.13.03 at 4:28 pm

i would like if it is possible for you to send me some information on cold reay to eat desserts

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