Carlin Romano
Encyclopedia
Carlin Romano is a critic-at-large for the The Chronicle of Higher Education
and a lecturer in Philosophy
and Media Theory at the University of Pennsylvania
's Annenberg School for Communication
. He was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize
in criticism, cited for "bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics." During a spell at Bennington College
he taught philosophy.
fellow in 2009 at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna.
Literary Supplement and his writing has also appeared in The Nation
, The New Yorker
, Harper's, The Times Literary Supplement
, Tikkun
, Book Forum, Salon
, Slate, International Herald Tribune
, Lingua Franca
, Columbia Journalism Review
, and Die Welt
.
Romano contributed an article on Umberto Eco
to Oxford University
Press's The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. In 1993, Basil Blackwell
Ltd published Danto and His Critics (edited by Mark Rollins) and included an essay by Romano entitled, "Looking Beyond the Visible: The Case of Arthur C. Dantwo," on the subject of Arthur Danto
, who won the Book Critics Circle Prize for Criticism in 1990. In his essay, Romano sets up a dichotomy between "pragmatism" and "Hegelianism" and finds statements in Danto's books that he claims fit into one of these two schools of thought. The Institution of Philosophy: A Discipline in Crisis? (published 1989 by Open Court, edited by Avner Cohen and Marcelo Dascal), includes a proposal by Romano to set up a World Court of Philosophy in which appointed philosophers would stipulate philosophical conclusions. He wrote about G. C. Lichtenberg in the July 2004 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Book reviews by Romano include one for the The Weekly Standard
published in October, 2001, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet for the Times Literary Supplement
, and a three-paragraph review for the March 13, 1995 issue of The New Yorker
.
This performative counterexample to MacKinnon's apparent contention that a rape in words is equivalent to a rape in deeds intensified the debate about legal sanctions against pornography. Romano said in defense of this review, "The worst thing that can happen to a flamboyant claim is to be tested by a good example."
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
and a lecturer in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Media Theory at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
's Annenberg School for Communication
Annenberg School for Communication
There are two schools named Annenberg School for Communication.*University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism*Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania...
. He was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in criticism, cited for "bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics." During a spell at Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
he taught philosophy.
Life
One of 815 Fulbright Scholars in 2002, he lectured at Smolny State University, St. Petersburg and was a Joan Shorenstein Center fellow in Fall 1993,. Romano was a Milena JesenskaMilena Jesenská
Milena Jesenská was a Czech journalist, writer, editor and translator, who refused to abandon her Jewish friends and was deported to and died alongside them in Ravensbrück concentration camp....
fellow in 2009 at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna.
Career
From 1981 onwards, Romano reviewed books about philosophers for The Village VoiceThe Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Literary Supplement and his writing has also appeared in The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Harper's, The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, Tikkun
Tikkun (magazine)
Tikkun is a quarterly English-language magazine, published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America...
, Book Forum, Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Slate, International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca was an American magazine about intellectual and literary life in academia.-Founding:The magazine was founded in 1990 by Jeffrey Kittay, an editor and Professor of French Literature at Yale University...
, Columbia Journalism Review
Columbia Journalism Review
The Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....
, and Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
.
Romano contributed an article on Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
to Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Press's The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. In 1993, Basil Blackwell
Basil Blackwell
Sir Basil Blackwell was born Henry Blackwell in Oxford, England. He was the son of the founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell's family publishing and bookshop empire, located on Broad Street in central Oxford...
Ltd published Danto and His Critics (edited by Mark Rollins) and included an essay by Romano entitled, "Looking Beyond the Visible: The Case of Arthur C. Dantwo," on the subject of Arthur Danto
Arthur Danto
Arthur Coleman Danto Arthur Coleman Danto Arthur Coleman Danto (born January 1, 1924 is an American art critic, and professor of philosophy. He is best known as the influential, long-time art critic for The Nation and for his work in philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of history, though he...
, who won the Book Critics Circle Prize for Criticism in 1990. In his essay, Romano sets up a dichotomy between "pragmatism" and "Hegelianism" and finds statements in Danto's books that he claims fit into one of these two schools of thought. The Institution of Philosophy: A Discipline in Crisis? (published 1989 by Open Court, edited by Avner Cohen and Marcelo Dascal), includes a proposal by Romano to set up a World Court of Philosophy in which appointed philosophers would stipulate philosophical conclusions. He wrote about G. C. Lichtenberg in the July 2004 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Book reviews by Romano include one for the The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
published in October, 2001, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet for the Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, and a three-paragraph review for the March 13, 1995 issue of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Against Heidegger
The 18 October 2009 issue of The Chronicle article by Romano entitled "Heil Heidegger!" was highly critical of both the German philosopher's work and its continued acceptance amongst American academics and intellectuals on account of Heidegger's past Nazi affiliations. The article appeared at the same time as the publication in English of French philosopher Emmanuel Faye’s Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-1935 (first published in 2005, in France), also highly critical of Heidegger for the same reason. In his article, Romano calls on librarians to stop stocking the collected works of the German philosopher, which appear under the term Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. Romano's controversial article caused renewed public dialogue about the relation between a person's politics and the merit of their work.Against MacKinnon
The publication of "the most controversial by far" book review of Only Words, written by Romano, provoked a strong reaction with his description of himself imagining himself raping Catherine MacKinnon.This performative counterexample to MacKinnon's apparent contention that a rape in words is equivalent to a rape in deeds intensified the debate about legal sanctions against pornography. Romano said in defense of this review, "The worst thing that can happen to a flamboyant claim is to be tested by a good example."
External links
- official listing for The Philadelphia Inquirer staff
- adjunct lecturers Annenberg School for Communications U of P
- The New York Times on Bennington firing
- The Boston Globe on Leiter, Rorty, and Romano
- Time magazine on the effects of Romano's imagining raping MacKinnon in his review of MacKinnon's book
- David Gates in Newsweek on the MacKinnon review, claiming Romano is "known for his own flamboyance"
- Walter Uhler, "More Incompetence, Bias, and Dishonesty at The Philadelphia Inquirer?" focuses on Romano's characterization of Noam Chomsky j
- In Slate, Stephen Metcalf addresses Romano’s argumentum ad hominem-inspired call to ban Heidegger’s work as hate speech and to make fun of it, as Romano advocates in his essay