In this highly original study, Nuccio Ordine uses the figure of the ass as a lens through which to focus on the thought and writings of the great Renaissance humanist philosopher Giordano Bruno.

Pensar en el cine como ocasión y potencia del pensamiento significa en efecto, en primer lugar, sustraer la imagen contemporánea del dominio de los estudios especializados y, en segundo lugar, pensar a partir de aquello que el cine crea (como recordaba Deleuze): esto es, las imágenes mismas. El cine redescubre su potencia a través de sus propias formas. Entrevistas de la revista italiana Fata Morgana con: Jacques Rancière, Roberto Esposito, Jean-luc Nancy, Slavoj Zizek, Julia Kristeva, Werner Herzog, Raúl Ruiz, Yervant (...) Gianikian, Ángela Ricci Lucchi, Edgar Reitz, Paul Schraoer, Georges Didi-Huberman, Jean-Louis Comolli, Nuccio Ordine. (shrink)

“A little masterpiece of originality and clarity.”—George Steiner “A necessary book.”—Roberto Saviano “A wonderful little book that will delight you.”—François Busnel International Best Seller / Now in English for the First Time In this thought-provoking and extremely timely work, Nuccio Ordine convincingly argues for the utility of useless knowledge and against the contemporary fixation on utilitarianism—for the fundamental importance of the liberal arts and against the damage caused by their neglect. Inspired by the reflections of great philosophers and writers (e.g., (...) Plato, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Borges, and Calvino), Ordine reveals how the obsession for material goods and the cult of utility ultimately wither the spirit, jeopardizing not only schools and universities, art, and creativity, but also our most fundamental values—human dignity, love, and truth. Also included is Abraham Flexner’s 1939 essay “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge,” which originally prompted Ordine to write this book. Flexner—a founder and the first director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton—offers an impassioned defense of curiosity-driven research and learning. (shrink)