Andrew
Bernstein has published on a wide variety of philosophical and literary
issues. Dr. Bernstein lectures regularly at American universities,
speaking on a broad range of intellectual topics. He has given addresses
at: Harvard University, Stanford University, the United States Military
Academy at West Point, Northwestern University, the University of
Michigan, the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin,
Carnegie-Mellon University, Columbia University, and many others.
A
popular lecturer and guest, he appears frequently on the radio
on shows in Boston, Northern California, St. Louis, and Detroit
among others, and has been a talk-radio guest host in Los Angeles.
Discussions include such topics as the role of values in human
life, the need for heroes in our society, the nature of a proper
curriculum for our schools, and the application of philosophical
principles to a broad array of cultural/political topics.
Dr.
Bernstein is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Marist College;
he also teaches at SUNY Purchase (which selected him Outstanding
Teacher for 2004)--and formerly at Pace University, and Marymount
College (which selected him Outstanding Teacher for 1995). He
has taught at Hunter College, Long Island University, and many
other New York-area colleges. He lectures frequently at philosophy
conferences all over the United States; additionally in Canada,
England, Belgium, Norway, Hong Kong and Bermuda.
Quotations
"Even
in this secular country, the threat posed by religious fundamentalists
is never very far away. Every major religious text exhorts the
same principles -- that of unyielding obedience to a supernatural
being, and renunciation of the intellect and personal aspirations."
"Many
argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions
-- that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades,
The Inquisition, Calvin's Geneva all prove that this is not the
case. These events were pre-eminently about obedience to authority."
"The
Platonic-Christian tradition in philosophy trumpets two claims:
(1) that man is a being severed into two parts, that his body
belongs to this dimension of reality and his consciousness to
a higher, spiritual realm -- and (2) the logical consequence of
this mind-body split, the belief that this world is utterly material
and carnal, that brute, bodily means are effectual, but that the
intellect, since it belongs to another world, is helpless to deal
with this one, that the mind is ivory-towered, inefficacious,
helpless, that its constructs may be sound in theory but are futile
in practice. Just as Jesus is the perfect moral expression of
this view -- the weak, pacifistic, cheek-turning "lamb"
in this world, but the omnipotent deity ruling the next -- so
Hamlet is its perfect literary expression -- the brilliant philosopher-intellectual
who excels in the theoretical realm but is helpless to deal with
the practical."
"If we lived
in a Garden of Eden, in which an omnipotent deity provided all
goods and full protection, then no competence on the part of human
beings would be required for either the creation of values or
their defense. But since metaphysical reality requires that man's
values be created and produced, ability -- above all, intellectual
ability -- is crucial to his survival on earth. Similarly, since
evil men attempt to enslave the creators and survive as parasites
off of their effort, ability -- again intellectual ability especially
-- is required to defend the good against their murderous intentions.
Where nothing is given to man and all must be produced -- where
implacable, unyielding foes or forces (be they animate or inanimate)
may provide fierce resistance to the would-be producers -- then
a further quality, in addition to moral stature, is required to
ensure survival: expertise, competence, power." |
