Mark Lilla
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| Western Philosophy 20th-century philosophy |
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Mark Lilla
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| Name: | Mark Lilla |
| Birth: | September, 1956 (Detroit, Michigan, United States) |
| School/tradition: | Theologico-Politico Theory Historiography |
| Main interests: | Theology, Politics, Enlightenment/Counter-Enlightenment, Modernism/Antimodernism, Ontology |
| Notable ideas: | "personality precedes politics" |
| Influences: | Hobbes, Strauss, Kierkegaard, Eric Voegelin, Alexandre Kojeve, Giovanni Battista Vico, Raymond Aron, Thomas Mann |
| Influenced: | Francis Fukuyama, Andrew Sullivan, E. J. Dionne, David Brooks |
Mark Lilla is a philosopher, author and public intellectual residing in New York City, New York. He is best known for his theological-politico writings, notably The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and the forthcoming Stillborn God. He is currently a professor of Social Thought at the University of Chicago and a visiting professor of religion at Columbia University.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Educational Background
Mark Lilla was born in Detroit, Michigan into what he describes as a non-strict Roman Catholic family. After attending Wayne State University for two years, Lilla graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in economics and political science.
[edit] Religious Activity
At the age of 14, Lilla attended his first Christian Rock concert. Though he had previously considered himself an atheist, the experience would provide a dramatic change in his life, a change which would ultimately influence his writings. Following the concert Lilla became a born-again Christian. He participated in many informal religious organizations during this period, transferring from Wayne State University to attend University of Michigan, Lilla joined the Word of God Community, a Pentecostal Catholic organization. He described his ferverent religiosity as "a little Kierkegaardian, a little scary."
[edit] Harvard and The Public Interest (1978-1985)
While receiving a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Lilla met Sociology professor Daniel Bell who soon after brought him on as an assistant editor at The Public Interest, a magazine started by Bell and Irving Kristol and which was an inspiration for Neoconservative thought in America. Though initially considered an economics specialist, Lilla began forays into the fields of architecture and political philosophy. During this period, he edited his first book, 'The Public Face of Architecture', with Nathan Glazer. He later returned to Harvard for his PhD.
[edit] Tony Judt and the ADL Controversy (2006)
In 2006, NYU Professor Tony Judt was scheduled to speak about Israel at the Polish Consulate in New York City. However, the invititation was withdrawn after the Consulate learned of Judt's belief that the state of Israel is an "anachronism" and should be dismantled and replaced by a binational state. Mark Lilla, together with Richard Sennett, organized a petition on behalf of Tony Judt, accusing Abe Foxman of B'nai Brith's Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of pressuring the Polish Consulate into taking this action.
[edit] Philosophy
[edit] Modernism/Anti-modernism
Lilla's first primarily philosophic work, G. B. Vico: Making of an Antimodern, based on his Harvard dissertation written under Judith Shklar and Harvey C. Mansfield, addressed the gradual development of strains of anti-modernism in Vico's work, notably in his Scienza Nuova. Many of Lilla's writings address outspoken anti-moderns of the 19th and 20th centuries.
[edit] Philotyranny
First coined in The Reckless Mind, the term philotyranny refers to a desire of intellectuals to force their ideas into actual politics, no matter what the cost. Classic examples include Martin Heidegger and Carl Schmitt, both of whom participated actively in the Third Reich.
[edit] External Links
- Review of The Reckless Mind by John E. Becker (Carnegie Council)
