Wednesday, April 6, 2022 — 5
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘Nasty, Brutish and Short’: Professor Scott
Hershovitz on why the best philosophers are
children
Why we tell the story: MUSKET’s production of ‘Once on This Island’
Ben Afeck has a better relationship with snails than Ana de Armas in ‘Deep Water’
This interview was edited for
length and clarity.
IN HIS NEW book “Nasty,
Brutish, and Short: Adventures
in Philosophy With My Kids,”
Scott Hershovitz, professor of
law and philosophy at the Uni-
versity of Michigan, shatters the
notion that philosophy should
be reserved for the ivory tower.
Some of the best philosophers, he
explains, are children. Naive and
unabashed, children are unafraid
to question things we as adults
take for granted. Hershovitz’s
own precocious sons, Rex and
Hank, are certainly unafraid to
question things — especially their
father’s authority.
As Rex and Hank pose philo-
sophical questions (Does the
number six exist? Do I have
rights? etc.), Hershovitz uses
these funny anecdotes as means
to explore weighty matters rang-
ing from racial and gender equal-
ity to the nature of truth. Often
lighthearted
(and
frequently
hilarious), “Nasty, Brutish and
Short” pairs the boys’ observa-
tions with compelling arguments
from contemporary philosophers
to provide an accessible intellec-
tual survey of many of philoso-
phy’s greatest questions.
On a dreary Thursday morn-
ing, I interviewed Professor Her-
shovitz. Our conversation ranged
from Taylor Swift’s beef with
Kanye to Judge Ketanji Brown
Jackson’s
appointment,
from
recapturing the wonder of child-
hood to the goals of studying phi-
losophy. Here’s what Hershovitz
had to share:
The Michigan Daily: The cen-
tral premise of this book is that
kids are great philosophers. What
makes kids such great philoso-
phers? How can adults be more
like kids in this regard?
Scott Hershovitz: I think kids
are really good philosophers for
two reasons. First, I think they
just find the world a really puz-
zling place. They’re dropped
in, and they don’t understand a
lot of what’s going on, and they
have questions about it. Often the
things they’re questioning are
things that grown-ups take for
granted. There’s this line from
a philosopher who spent a lot of
time studying kids, Gareth Mat-
thews, who said, “The adult must
cultivate the naïveté required for
doing philosophy, but to a child,
such naïveté is entirely natural.”
So I think that’s the first reason
kids make really good philoso-
phers.
The second reason is they’re
not worried about seeming silly.
They’re willing to ask questions
that a lot of adults wouldn’t ask
out loud, or signal to other people
that they were thinking about,
or maybe even think that they
should think about themselves.
So they’re willing to ask ques-
tions like, “Am I just dreaming my
entire life?” or “What is time?” I
think we actually get socialized
out of that pretty fast, somewhere
around age eight or nine years
old.
As to the second question: How
can adults be more like kids in
this regard? Well, part of what
I’m hoping to do through this
book is encourage adults to talk
to kids. Conversations about phi-
losophy with kids can be really
cool because they can be collab-
orative. There are not a lot of con-
versations you can have with kids
where each person is bringing
something to the table. Usually
you’re teaching a kid something,
telling them something that they
don’t know, but if you talk to kids
about philosophy, they’ve got
questions that are going to push
you past your understanding. And
I think just taking up the con-
versation with them and seeing
where things go is a way of recap-
turing some of the wonder they
have about the world.
TMD: I have another serious
question queued up, but maybe
we’ll come back to that and mix
it up a little. So the next question
is: Was there a single moment that
inspired you to write this book?
It seems like you have so many
hilarious and moving anecdotes
stored up from over a decade
worth of parenting. Why wait
until now?
SH: Around when my old-
est, Rex, was about a year old, I
started to talk about him when
I was teaching. He would say or
do something at home that would
raise a philosophy issue that we
were talking about in class. And
I just discovered that if we start
talking about the reading I assign,
sometimes it’s difficult to get a
conversation going. But if I come
into class and I say, “Hey, let me
tell you about this thing my kid
did,” everyone finds it relatable
and fun to talk about. And we can
talk about Rex for a few minutes,
and then I can say, “Ah, now how
does this relate to the reading that
was assigned for today?”
One evening I was at another
university presenting a paper, and
I was having trouble getting peo-
ple there to see what the problem
was. And I did it with them. I said,
“Hey, let me tell you a story about
my little guy, Hank. And here’s
something he said, which kind of
illustrates this issue.”
Almost immediately, people
understood the formerly confus-
ing issue. And then a friend of
mine, who published a popular
book in philosophy, Aaron James,
leaned across the table, and he
said, “That’s your book right
there.” That was what really got
me thinking that, “Oh, this thing
I do with my students, and now
sometimes with my colleagues, I
could just do with a broader audi-
ence.” I really love philosophy,
and I want more people to get
engaged with it. I realized these
stories are a way of helping bring
people in.
TMD: Your book addresses
serious ethical questions around
transgender rights and racism,
authority and revenge. Each of
these discussions begins with a
conversation you had with one of
your kids. How young is too young
to learn about evil in the world?
How can you balance preserving
their innocence with producing
moral, compassionate children?
Editor’s Note: A Daily staffer contrib-
uted to this production, but they were not
involved in the creation, production or
publication of this piece.
THIS PAST WEEKEND, The Uni-
versity of Michigan’s “Michigan Union
Shows, Ko-Eds, Too” (MUSKET) pro-
duced “Once on This Island,” a stunning
one-act musical by Lynn Ahrens and Ste-
phen Flaherty. Performed in the Power
Center, “Once on This Island” is based
on a book by Rosa Guy entitled, “My
Love, My Love, or The Peasant Girl.” In
it, an orphaned peasant girl, Ti Moune
(played by the radiant Simone Clotile, a
Music, Theatre & Dance junior) lives on
an island in the French Antilles and falls
in love with a “grande homme” (or “beau-
tiful man”), a wealthy, lighter-skinned
man named Daniel Beauxhomme played
by the brilliant Myles Mathews, a Music,
Theatre & Dance freshman. Though her
love for Daniel is so strong, Ti Moune
will never be able to marry him because
of where she is from. Directed and cho-
reographed by Music, Theatre & Dance
juniors Chloe Cuff and Brooke Taylor,
and Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore
Cristina Benn, MUSKET’s “Once on This
Island” uses community and love to com-
bat colorism and classism.
While audiences were filing into the
vast Power Center, the cast was already
on stage, playing with soccer balls, danc-
ing to drums and socializing with each
other. This pre-show created an oppor-
tunity for the audience to see a glimpse
of life in the French Antilles and estab-
lished a powerful sense of community
that was carried throughout the rest
of the show. Not only did the pre-show
immediately bring the audience into the
story, but the set, designed by Music,
Theatre & Dance junior Laurence Vance,
was incredibly intimate, made of vibrant
vines, flowers and string lights that one
would see in a backyard. Additionally,
the creative team chose to set the band on
stage as well, furthering the strong sense
of togetherness. The visual of the com-
munity on stage in such an intimate and
familiar setting made the Power Center
feel three times smaller and made it prac-
tically impossible not to become com-
pletely immersed in Ti Moune’s story.
Music, an important part of the cul-
ture on the island, was something that
bonded the community. It connected the
peasants to each other as well as to the
gods. For instance, in Ti Moune’s first
solo, “Waiting For Life to Begin,” she
sings “Oh gods, oh gods hear my prayer,”
asking them to show her her purpose. In
fact, the very first musical number of the
show starts with the lyrics, “Asaka, grow
me a garden, please Agwe don’t flood
my garden, Erzulie, who will my love be,
Papa Ge, don’t come around me,” signal-
ing that the people use music as a way
of communicating with the gods, which
are at the core of their community. The
music would not have been so central to
the story without the thoughtful work
of the Music Director Dominic Dorset, a
Music, Theatre & Dance senior.
Similarly, dance is used throughout
the show to signal community. Taylor’s
choreography had heavy African influ-
ences, a nod to the characters’ ances-
tors and culture. This was highlighted
in one of the most beautiful moments of
the show, in which Ti Moune is asked to
dance at the ball. She looks down at her
feet, removes her city shoes and begins
to dance the way she would at home.
Eventually, two peasant servants join Ti
Moune in her dance, immediately famil-
iar with its steps and rhythm, showcasing
their communal ties and unity surround-
ing dance. This moment was incredibly
unique to MUSKET’s production.
Not only does dance ground the com-
munity, but so does their connection
to the earth. Through a gorgeous and
thoughtful set, costume design and
direction, the creative team displayed
the intersection of the earth and spiri-
tuality. Each god had an eye makeup
design symbolizing what they repre-
sented. For instance, Agwe, god of water,
played beautifully by Rackham student
Algernon Robinson, wore blue highlights
around his eyes, while the other gods
wore their respective colors. Cuff bril-
liantly chose to have ensemble members
play birds, trees and frogs, illustrating
their close connection and appreciation
for the earth. This was complemented by
the beautiful lighting design by Music,
Theatre & Dance junior Abi Farnsworth.
What was the most striking, however,
was that at the end of the story, when
Ti Moune sacrifices her life for Daniel
because of her love for him, she becomes
a tree that watches over Daniel and is
welcomed back into the earth by the
gods.
MUSKET’s “Once on This Island”
teaches audiences that love prevails. In
the face of hate and discrimination, love
and community are what allow us to
thrive.
IF THERE IS such a thing as a libi-
do for cinema, then I will say the 2022
film “Deep Water” actively makes
my desire to watch movies plummet.
Which is ironic, because this so-called
erotic thriller clearly wants to make
its audience horny. But even Ana de
Armas (“No Time to Die”) can’t save
the movie equivalent of lathering your
tastebuds with mayonnaise for two
hours. It has a decently-sized budget
and was funded by a major studio, but
there is no real desire or spark on-
screen from the cast or crew. Every-
one involved seems solely interested
in filler movies to buff up their IMDb
profile; it’s as generic as it gets. It’s so
vanilla that it’s difficult to come up
with interesting words to describe it.
The film is about couple Vic (Ben
Affleck, “Gone Girl”) and Melinda
(de Armas), who are in a precarious
agreement to keep their marriage
intact (ironically, the actors could
not keep their relationship intact long
enough for this movie to be released,
since they got together and subse-
quently broke up between the movie
being made and distributed). In order
to keep the family together, Melinda
is allowed to have affairs with whom-
ever she wants. Naturally, this ends
up bothering Vic, and he becomes the
object of suspicion when things start
happening to Melinda’s lovers.
Because of this relationship, the
audience is treated to a constantly
sulking Affleck, which is at first
quite amusing, but eventually, like
almost everything else in this film,
becomes deliriously dull. De Armas
is unhinged, and her character is very
unlikeable, with her constantly mak-
ing irrational decisions. They have
a daughter, who one might imag-
ine would be Vic’s primary object of
affection if he wasn’t so obsessed
with snails. Yeah, Vic has a garage-
sized collection of live snails — which
brings me to the parts of the film I
was most invested in: multiple scenes
of Ben Affleck carefully caressing
these pans of snails. Even though they
were by far the most exciting aspect
of the movie, the snails were not what
elicited the rawest emotion in me.
That award goes to the jump cut from
the movie’s most intense sex scene to
a little league soccer game.
The film is supposed to have loads
of suspense and psychological ten-
sion, but it’s difficult for the suspense
to work if the most thrilling scene in
the film involves an SUV and a bicy-
cle in a generic park. And there can’t
be psychological tension if both lead
characters can be figured out in the
first few scenes. After the first half-
hour or so, Vic and Melinda’s behav-
iors can be predicted very easily,
which makes the remaining 90 min-
utes a snoozefest interspersed with
the occasional Affleck-approved sulk
or snail.
The ending is double-take-induc-
ing; I was genuinely baffled by the
swift whimper that was the climax
and resolution. The established char-
acter traits and motivations fly out
the window. The last few minutes are
so anticlimactic that I actually cack-
led when the credits started rolling.
There is pretty much no buildup or
logical continuity that really explains
this ending.
The biggest issue with this movie is
just how unexciting the viewing expe-
rience was. It wasn’t bad in the sense
that it was bizarre or abrasive, and it
certainly wasn’t so offbeat that it was
funny. It was just bland. There was no
risk at all. I would much rather have
watched a poorly-staged, low-budget
camp-fest than something like this,
which was technically well-made and
technically well-acted. It was made
with all the current technology, and
you can definitely see the money on
screen, but there is no flair, no pas-
sion at all. It feels like it was made
for a paycheck, which is sad because
it was director Adrian Lyne’s (“Fatal
Attraction”) return to directing fea-
tures after a two-decade hiatus.
Honestly, he should’ve just made the
whole movie about snails.
Courtesy of MUSKET, photos by Jessica Zhang
SAM MATHISSON
Daily Arts Writer
CONSTANCE MEADE
Daily Arts Contributor
ALVIN ANAND
Daily Arts Writer
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
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