Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

  So let us turn back to the conflict between Naomi Wolf and Naomi Klein, as I outlined it on Tuesday. Do I have a preference?  Other than Naomi Campbell of course (talking about the beauty myth!).   It is hard to say.  Just weeks ago, when I still saw myself as an anarcho-capitalist, I would not have mentioned this, except as a sample of how the control-freaks of the world might fall out with each other to the incidental benefit of liberty. Nowadays I cannot give such a wise assed answer. So ... what CAN I say. As I indicated Tuesday, I approve of the fact that Wolf, though surely left of center in American political concerns herself, goes off the reservation.  She thinks for herself. With regard to Klein, I know of no similar self-assertiveness at the expense of orthodoxy.  I'd love to see it.  On the other hand, my relatively slight sampling of both authors indicates to me that Klein is a scholar, careful about sourcing. Wolf, though, is an af...

 It appears that Naomi Klein, a Toronto based feminist intellectual who wrote most famously THE SHOCK DOCTRINE (2007), has issues with Naomi Wolf, a San Francisco based feminist intellectual who wrote most famously THE BEAUTY MYTH (1990). Apart from the name, both women are of the same generation and in many respects similar appearance.  In THE BEAUTY MYTH Wolf criticizes the cosmetics and fashion industries especially as the forward troops in keeping women embarrassed and exploitable. This book was instantly and emphatically praised by various feminist Big Names, like Germaine Greer and Betty Freidan.  Klein says she is frequently confused with Wolf. Their world does not contain room, it appears, for two Naomis.  She doesn't like being confused with Wolf because she, Klein, is a more reliable leftist whereas Wolf goes off that reservation too often for Klein's comfort.    The annoyance has become much more than that, as the phrase "the green New Deal"...