Movies and Books

Some stuff I've watched or read lately:

Stevie. This is an award-winning documentary made by the same guy who made Hoop Dreams. It's about a man named Stevie, who was beaten and abused as a child, and who ended up in trouble with the law. It is one of the most moving and heart-wrenching films I've ever seen. For a full review, go here (scroll down), or check out all the rave reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Warranted Christian Belief. I finally finished Alvin Plantinga's third installment in his trilogy on epistemology. Definitely worth reading. (Also highly recommended: Warrant and Proper Function.)

All Shook Up: Music, Passion, and Politics, by Carson Holloway. This book examines the role of music in political philosophy, from Plato to Rousseau to Nietzsche to Allan Bloom. The historical chapters are quite interesting, and I find it odd that current political philosophy tends to ignore the many great philosophers who have argued that the characteristics of a regime can be influenced by music and its effect on the passions. Holloway's prescriptions as to modern America, however, are a bit vague and not so well-defended.