recommended reading on particular subjects
art
- The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction what is the approach towards art for communists, what is the approach taken by fascists? what are the broad strokes of the development of modern art production? how is this qualitatively different than previous eras of artistic production? what is the position of the photography and film in particular?
- Marx and Engels On Literature and Art what is art and why do different distinctive styles emerge? what produces great works? what is socialist realism? how should art critique be approached? how can the full creative impulse of all people be realized?
- Leaving the Movie Theater Barthes, short essay about distance and theaters.
knowing and cognition
- On Practice HIGHLY RECOMMEND where does knowledge come from? how are ideas developed? how does practice relate to knowledge?
- On Contradiction HIGHLY RECOMMEND what are the main philosophical outlooks? how do we understand movement and development? what is contradiction and how does its constituent parts relate?