Philosophers

RICHARD RORTY, who died last week at age 75, became the best-known philosopher writing in English by becoming the most hated. Once I saw him give a lecture to an auditorium full of eminent thinkers at the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. After he was done giving them his thoughts on pragmatism and truth, they fired away at him for the better part of an hour. Some asked questions.

Dallas Willard Influential Christian philosopher taught at USC for 47 years Dallas Willard, 77, an influential Christian philosopher who taught at USC for 47 years and chaired the philosophy department in the early 1980s, died Wednesday in Woodland Hills, the university said. He had cancer. In "The Great Omission," "Renovation of the Heart," "The Divine Conspiracy" and other books, Willard wrote about spiritual formation and Christian discipleship for the general reader, often giving practical advice for living a Christian life in a secular world.

On the night of the recent blackout in New York, Chris Phillips left his sublet apartment and wandered into nearby Washington Square, where hundreds had gathered to share their anxieties in the dark. Phillips, a philosopher by trade, did what philosophers have done for nearly 2,500 years: He engaged the crowd in Socratic dialogue. "We discussed the nature of community," Phillips says. "Dozens joined in to explore their own thoughts and connect with their neighbors. It was wonderful."

Muriel Spark understood better than most novelists the peculiar fascination of hermetic worlds. She set "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in a Scottish girls day school, "The Abbess of Crewe" in a convent run like the C.I.A. and her last novel, "The Finishing School," at a Swiss academy of questionable ethics. Jenny Davidson, a comparative literature professor at Columbia University and fiction writer, has inspired Sparkian comparisons with her new novel, "The Magic Circle," which focuses on a strange subset society all its own - the brainy bubble of Columbia University's Morningside Heights neighborhood.

The grand boulevard of Friedrichstrasse runs through the center of this once-divided city, from West Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie and then into the former East Berlin. It ends at a 300-year-old cemetery. It is there, among some of Germany's intellectual giants, that the remains of a controversial philosopher of the 1960s student revolution will be given a final resting place today.

The words friendly and Los Angeles Coliseum haven't been seen in the same sentence for some time, so it might be refreshing to review Jim Cheffers' special relationship with the building. As a 10-year-old, Cheffers attended the 1932 Olympic Games at the Coliseum with his father. As a football player at Huntington Park High, he played in the Milk Bowl there. On weekends, he was an usher at USC and UCLA football games.

The leading newspaper in Beijing said Wednesday that a Chinese college student committed murder after he was corrupted by reading the works of philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche. It was the first time in China's continuing campaign against "bourgeois liberalization" that an official propaganda organ has attempted to make a connection between ideas from the West and violent crime in China.

The year being well-launched, it is perhaps time for me to take notice of "An Expectation of Days: 1994," an irreverent calendar prepared by the irrepressible Bob Specht. Specht used to edit the more dignified RAND Corp. calendar, whose latest edition I have already exploited. I wouldn't say Specht's "Expectation" is any less philosophical than RAND, but it is more fun. To underline his lack of respect for convention, Specht's calendar has seven pages, rather than the usual 12.

After 1987, this Year of the Lie, where can people turn for truth? Philosophers remember old Diogenes, who still symbolizes the search because he went around truth-seeking with a lantern in broad daylight. Yet in a contemporary eight-volume encyclopedia of philosophy, "Truth" has only three lines--theories on how to talk about it. If philosophers are of only marginal help, people who tell poll-takers how spiritual they are may turn to religious leadership for truth.

Holmes Rolston III, a philosopher, clergyman and scientist whose explorations of biology and faith have helped foster religious interest in the environment, has been awarded the 2003 Templeton Prize. The prize, established in 1972 by Sir John Templeton, is awarded each year to an individual to encourage and honor those who advance spiritual matters. It is valued at more than $1 million. Past recipients include Nobel Peace Prize winner the late Mother Teresa and evangelist Billy Graham.

The title character of "The Rabbi's Cat" is not your everyday cartoon fluffball. He's scrawny, apparently hairless and unapologetically disputatious. The animated world he inhabits is no kid-friendly adventure but a philosophical quarrel in the form of a frenetic road trip through 1930s Africa. Based on several volumes of the graphic novel series by Joann Sfar, the hand-drawn film is directed by Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, who use a rich palette and a mix of visual styles ranging from blunt to dazzling.

In a not-so-shocking turn of events, Chris Brown returned to Twitter for real over the weekend, just about a week after he took his Twitter toys and went home in the wake of a vulgar exchange with female comedian Jenny Johnson. While his nearly 11.7 million-person @chrisbrown following remains intact, Brown is otherwise starting with a clean slate: All tweets prior to a simple "#CarpeDiem" sent Monday have been deleted. (Those who delete the past are doomed to repeat it?

"A Royal Affair" is not as racy as it sounds. This highly polished costume drama is exceptionally well-made and a model of intelligent restraint, but it is also unapologetically earnest and a bit on the bloodless side. For though the illicit physical passion implied by the title is definitely part of the story, this Danish film (the country's best foreign-language Oscar entry) is more about a transgressive couple's zeal for freedom and political reform, which while noble and involving, is not exactly barn-burner material.

Philosopher Paul Kurtz was called many unflattering names during his long career, including "Satanic free-thinker" and "dangerous corrupter of young minds. " But the name some of his critics considered most damning was the one he most prized. They called him a secular humanist. "You can call me a skeptic, a non-theist, an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptical, agnostic atheist, but the best term," Kurtz, a champion of science and debunker of religions and the supernatural, told the Associated Press years ago, "is secular humanist.

Few films conjure up the nightmarish movie memories that"The Exorcist"does. William Friedkin's 1973 adaptation of William Peter Blatty's bestselling novel famously spurred reports of screaming, fainting and even moviegoers running from theaters as 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, possessed by an ancient, powerful evil, spat out obscenities and ugly rivers of dark green bile. Religious leaders condemned the movie as sacrilegious; some cautioned that watching the film and its head-spinning imagery would endanger the soul.

Quietly and reflectively, Eric Bledsoe and Ryan Gomes talked about how their names have been mentioned in Clippers trade rumors. Neither expected to be traded before Thursday's noon PDT deadline, but neither player was positive that he would remain a Clipper. Gomes has stayed abreast of the situation, saying that he has heard about speculation that he and Bledsoe would go to Portland for Jamal Crawford . Gomes said he even heard that the Clippers were trying to get Utah's Raja Bell . "I'm an Internet junkie," Gomes said.

Dallas Willard Influential Christian philosopher taught at USC for 47 years Dallas Willard, 77, an influential Christian philosopher who taught at USC for 47 years and chaired the philosophy department in the early 1980s, died Wednesday in Woodland Hills, the university said. He had cancer. In "The Great Omission," "Renovation of the Heart," "The Divine Conspiracy" and other books, Willard wrote about spiritual formation and Christian discipleship for the general reader, often giving practical advice for living a Christian life in a secular world.

In the modern pantheon of the world's dictators, Moammar Kadafi stood apart. Far apart. Erratic and mercurial, he fancied himself a political philosopher, practiced an unorthodox and deadly diplomacy, and cut a sometimes cartoonish figure in flowing robes and dark sunglasses, surrounded by heavily armed female bodyguards. He ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years, bestowing on himself an array of titles, including "king of culture," "king of kings of Africa" and, simply, "leader of the revolution.

The conflicting messages tug at the Lakers' franchise. A day before the Lakers were eliminated in a four-game sweep by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals, Magic Johnson argued owner Jerry Buss needed to "blow this team up" to contend for future championships. Once that early playoff exit became official, Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak expressed confidence that the current roster could win a title. Once the NBA lockout ended, Kupchak reiterated those sentiments, but later changed his mind after seeing what he called an "opportunity.

Tolstoy A Russian Life Rosamund Bartlett Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 544 pp., $35 Count Lev Tolstoy is one of those writers who was as fascinating and complex as his novels and stories. A man so awful and quarrelsome to those around him, especially his long-suffering wife, was nonetheless able to produce masterpieces of serene introspection and humane insights. How could Tolstoy, a loner, a quintessential outsider all his life, understand and evoke the glittering social whirl and intricacies of fashionable salons?