Author: Davood Gozli

book review Fiction

‘The Thibaults’ by Roger Martin du Gard: Reflections on a Masterpiece

By Davood Gozli | by Davood Gozli
Featured

Reading The Thibaults (Les Thibault) was one of my highlights of 2024. Published originally in serial form between 1922 and 1940, the novel tells the story of a family—their historical context, their relationships, and their movements across the private and public spheres. World War I also casts a heavy shadow over the story, but du Gard keeps us guessing, drawing out the suspense and urges us not to think the war was simply inevitable. The…

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Culture Education

Phones versus Play: What Jonathan Haidt Means by the Great Rewiring of Childhood in ‘The Anxious Generation’

By Davood Gozli | by Davood Gozli

In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt contrasts two fundamentally different ways of growing up: a play-based childhood versus a phone-based childhood. The shift from physical, open-ended play to structured, screen-driven interaction has changed how children explore the world and socialize, with significant developmental and mental health implications. Haidt identifies two primary forces behind this change: “safetyism” in parenting, which over-protects kids from…

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Popular Culture

Joker: On the Folly of (Total) Branding

By Davood Gozli | by Davood Gozli

“Joker: Folie à Deux” extends the disturbing narrative of Arthur Fleck to a point where it can no longer be extended. We find him trapped in a double bind, caught between his lived reality and the weight of his Joker persona—a “brand” that was initially his means of escape, his line of flight, now confines him. The film shows the dark side of “branding,” when brand becomes totalizing, when an identity becomes locked into a…

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General Psychology Phenomenological Psychology

Phenomenological Psychology as Rigorous Science (Wendt, 2024)

By Davood Gozli | by Davood Gozli

Alexander Nicolai Wendt’s recent book, Phenomenological Psychology as Rigorous Science, attempts to build a much-needed bridge between psychology and philosophy. The presence of such a bridge has always been vital for psychology, as Wilhelm Wundt argued in his 1913 essay “Psychology’s Struggle for Existence,” and I hope others would join Wendt in building it. Wendt is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna and the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg. Wendt is…

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Fiction Philosophy Reading Group

Scenes of Clerical Life: Reading George Eliot’s Short Stories – June to August 2024

By Davood Gozli | by Davood Gozli

Following our discussions on Albert Camus’ Exile and the Kingdom, we will turn our attention to George Eliot’s Scenes of Clerical Life. We will have a series of six sessions, two sessions dedicated to each of Eliot’s short stories, from June 22nd to July 27th. Here is the plan: Story 1. “The Sad Fortunes Of The Reverend Amos Barton” – Two meetings: June 22 & 29 Story 2. “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story” – Three meetings:…

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