The Phoebean condition

Cross posted at Political Arguments.

Some of the contributors to this blog are bound to get a kick out of this:

Let me say this: Hannah Arendt was super-cool. I would venture to say she might even beat Ed Koch in the smart Ashkenazi Jew department. Reading Arendt, or just reading about her, is the intellectual equivalent of seeing Amanda Peet at the City Bakery—why can't that be me? If there is, somewhere, an individual who thinks like Arendt, looks like Peet, and, say, is close friends with and thus gets free clothing from Agnes B. of agnes b., then the world is unfair, but at least I'd have my role models all rolled up into one.

I don't know who I'd roll into an all purpose role model. I get the feeling I'd end up with someone who thought like John Rawls, looked like John Rawls, and dressed like John Rawls. Not very exciting, but very, very just.