Category Archives: philosophy

Lions and Christians

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Intelligence Squared is a privately-funded outfit staging debates in London. You can get a sample of the kinds of topics they debate from their home page. Free-market capitalism is so 20th century The threat to our civil liberties from an overmighty … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, philosophy | 11 Comments

The philosophers as types

Posted on October 7, 2009 by David Hume

I don’t know what to make of this David Brooks column, Bentham vs. Hume. I will say that the main reason I lean Right is a suspicion of the efficacy of managerial technocracy. And I speak as someone who is … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Eat That Apple!

Posted on September 20, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Stanley Fish is not normally my favorite commentator, but his New York Times piece on curiosity today is well worth a look: …There is another tradition in which, far from being the guarantor of a better future, curiosity is a vice … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, science | Tagged | 8 Comments

Social science & engineering

Posted on June 17, 2009 by David Hume

A recent Bloggingheads.tv featured two philosophers, and was titled “Explaining and Appraising Moral Intuition”. A considerable proportion of the discussion involved the utility of cognitive and evolutionary psychology in probing the reflexive roots of our moral intuitions, and how that … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, economics, philosophy, science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Start at the same point, go in opposite directions

Posted on June 11, 2009 by David Hume

I really enjoyed this discussion between Cato’s Brink Lindsey and David Frum. It illustrates my point about the necessity of common referents to have fruitful discussions. Brink is a libertarian who has rejected fusionism and now wishes to co-opt a … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Disenchantment

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Just finished Thomas Metzinger’s new book The Ego Tunnel (which you can get for a few dollars at Abebooks — Amazon want some ridiculous price). It’s a very good survey of current mind studies. Metzinger is a philosopher, but he’s up … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, science | 15 Comments

Romania to decriminalize incest

Posted on April 12, 2009 by David Hume

Romania weighs decriminalizing consensual incest: Three European Union nations — France, Spain and Portugal — do not prosecute consenting adults for incest, and Romania is considering following suit. … Laws exempting parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters from prosecution for incestuous … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, philosophy, politics | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Moral Reasoning

Posted on April 1, 2009 by David Hume

There is a debate on the internet about homosexuality and morality, with Rod Dreher, Andrew Sullivan and Damon Linker at the center of the storm.  Nothing too surprising or unexpected.  All I would add is that this is a sort … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, politics | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

On objective ends

Posted on February 26, 2009 by David Hume

Jim Kalb offers a criticism of the general mission statement of this weblog, Is “the secular” so clear?: My own view, which my book goes into at length, is that by itself rational empiricism gives you desire and technique as … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, politics | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

Possibilities without illusions

Posted on January 23, 2009 by David Hume

I just noticed that David Kirkpatrick at NewMajority.com noted that he read Secular Right. Some people have wondered what this website is about in positive political terms. To some extent I’m wondering about what NewMajority.com is about aside from acknowledging … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, politics | Tagged , | 16 Comments