The reactionary left sees human rights and democratisation as expressions of imperialism.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Raj Persaud Accused of Plagiarism 
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Journal article on Milgram’s experiment echoes book by US scholar.… Read the rest
John Fowles 1926-2005
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Magus, The Collector; three landmark novels.… Read the rest
Christian Identity Church Called ‘Hate Group’
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Despite not calling non-whites ‘mud people.’… Read the rest
Can Evolutionary Psychology Inform Lit Crit?
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Achilles was Alpha male, Emma Bovary lusted for alpha male. Now what?… Read the rest
Always Heed the Rhetoric
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Principled’; ‘tough and fair’ instead of ‘tough but fair’ – it all adds up.… Read the rest
John Judis on Reactionary Legal Philosophy
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Alito doesn’t weigh women’s liberty and independence against other factors; he fails to acknowledge them. … Read the rest
‘Respect’ Apparently a Somewhat Incoherent Word
Nov 7th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
You should respect yoof no elders no doctors no the poor no the rich no people with guns.… Read the rest
Mshari Al-Zaydi on Crisis in Saudi Education
Nov 6th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Those who mention need to reform education are attacked and accused of being agents of West. … Read the rest
Nick Cohen on Plutocracy
Nov 6th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘When such opulence surrounds you, you are in danger of finding it normal.’… Read the rest
Ceci n’est pas Ordinary Delinquency
Nov 6th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘These riots show evidence of social protest.’… Read the rest
He Called Us Louts, says Arsonist
Nov 6th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Youth explains grievance: ‘He should have said sorry for showing us disrespect, but now it is too late.’… Read the rest
‘Youths’ Set Fire to Disabled Woman on Bus
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Officials say rioting is also about youths simply ‘having a go’ at the police. And women on crutches.… Read the rest
Why Does P Charles Cleave to Islam?
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Monarch-worshipping, woman-oppressing, non-democratic — what’s there for Charles not to like! … Read the rest
Father and Sons Convicted of ‘Honour’ Killing
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shame, dishonour, contrary to religion and tradition.… Read the rest
Alister McGrath Gives the Game Away
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The post-modern devaluation of truth is a convenient escape hatch for believers in one or another god.’… Read the rest
Scientific Consciousness at its Best
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Informed guesswork that is open-minded, free-ranging, intellectually playful.… Read the rest
A Zero Theory
Nov 5th, 2005 | By Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen; introduction and translation by Frederick CrewsFive weeks ago, an article on this site introduced habitués of Butterflies and Wheels (among whom I enthusiastically count myself) to Le livre noir de la psychanalyse (Éditions des Arènes), a book that has had all of intellectual and therapeutic France in an uproar throughout the fall season. France is one of the few remaining countries whose psychiatric establishment remains committed to Freudian—in this case specifically Lacanian—notions, and until now no critique, most notably Jacques Bénesteau’s powerful but largely boycotted Mensonges freudiens of 2002, could make a dent in the reigning complacency. The ambitious, massive, and well-publicized Livre noir, compiled from original and reprinted contributions by forty authors, has changed all that. The book has already run through three … Read the rest
Pike on Honderich
Nov 4th, 2005 6:10 pm | By Ophelia BensonJon Pike on Ted Honderich is well worth reading. Studying, even.
To begin with, he doesn’t just think that affluent westerners are collectively guilty for their omissions in respect of bad lives. He asserts that this explains and justifies anti-Western hatred…The book is, as I will show, chock full of sloppy arguments and non-sequiturs but this is perhaps the worst, and is the hinge with which Honderich gets from bad lives to terrorism.
That’s an important hinge, I think. It’s a hinge that other people use in other causes, or ’causes.’ There is suffering or deprivation or injustice in X place or situation; some set of people are collectively guilty for their omissions or their ‘complicity’ (remember that word? it’s … Read the rest
