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Meta
Category Archives: philosophy
Fantasies, facts and values
The Western cultural tradition, which combined various elements (religious, intellectual, scientific) into a rich and resilient and trans-national framework of thought and practice, is all but dead. Witness, for example, the increasingly propaganda-ridden media environment, the absurdities of identity politics … Continue reading
Posted in culture, philosophy, politics, science
Tagged education, facts and values, John Dewey, objective reality, postmodernism, Pragmatism, Richard Rorty, science, William James
Comments Off on Fantasies, facts and values
Machine Trumps Ghost
It is—time flies—now thirty years since the appearance of The Closing of the American Mind, an anniversary noted by Alexander Riley in The American Conservative. The whole thing is well worth reading, but this passage caught my attention: Some elements … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy
Tagged Charles Darwin, evolutionary psychology
Comments Off on Machine Trumps Ghost
The American Conservative’s Commitment to Truthiness?
Rod Dreher at The American Conservative – which could easily be referred to as the “Rod Dreher Show” given his incredibly productive posting habits (he’s reportedly responsible for about half the site’s traffic) – writes that SJWs (Social Justice Warriors), like … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged jonathan haidt, rod dreher, the american conservative
3 Comments
“On the Ideology of Anti-Islamophobia”
An interesting criticism of the notion of “Islamophobia,” translated from French, has made an appearance at Charnel House, a Marxist blog that’s nearly equally fascinated by architecture. (They say the last remaining Marxists are to be found in English departments, but … Continue reading
They Like Murray Bookchin, Not Murray Rothbard
Here’s an interesting piece on Kurdish Syria, wherein the influence of American far-left thinking on the region’s secular politics is explored. Specifically, its influence on Kurdistan Workers’ Party co-founder Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently languishing in a Turkish prison: One of … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends, philosophy
Tagged abdullah ocalan, kurdistan, murray bookchin
Comments Off on They Like Murray Bookchin, Not Murray Rothbard
Cognitive Dissonance in Paris
After reading this piece from Haaretz dubbed “In Paris Neighborhood Heavily Hit by Terrorists, Residents View Attackers as Victims,” one wonders if the idea of the “liberal mugged by reality” is itself more fantasy than real-life: They aren’t angry, at … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy, Religion
2 Comments
‘Antiracism: Our Flawed New Religion’
That’s the title of John McWhorter’s excellent piece at The Daily Beast. He looks at the rhetoric of the Blacks Lives Matter movement and its acolytes and finds all the trappings of a new and only nominally secular religion. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in culture, philosophy
Tagged daily beast, john mcwhorter, progressives
Comments Off on ‘Antiracism: Our Flawed New Religion’
Everywhere is Nowhere
In an admiring review for The Week of theologian David Bentley Hart’s new book, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss, Damon Lineker writes that it “demolishes” the “straw man Atheism” of those who treat “God as if he were … Continue reading
On The Random Walk
The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates has just been reading Tony Judt’s Postwar (which I have yet to tackle, but plan to) and cites that book, together with Tim Snyder’s Bloodlands (which I reviewed here) for a grander thesis about the failings … Continue reading
Such Sweet Suffering
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed “eminent bioethicist” (itself a contradiction in terms) Leon Kass. The trigger was the Gosnell trial, but it was this aspect of Kass’s remarks that drew my attention: Dr. Kass sometimes finds himself at odds … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy, Religion, Science & Faith
Tagged Bio-ethics, Leon Kass, medical technology, Suffering as a blessing
1 Comment