All entries by this author

David Aaronovitch on Received Wisdom on the Left *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Orthodoxy as stifling as anything imposed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.… Read the rest



Philosophy is Gaining Popularity in Schools *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Students find the subject interesting, ‘which makes a change.’… Read the rest



Ted Honderich *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Force-fed religion in childhood, could see that nothing in religion could possibly be true.… Read the rest



Saul Bellow *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

The Chicago Sun-Times obit.… Read the rest



Saul Bellow *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

The Guardian obit.… Read the rest



New York Times Bellow Feature Page *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Links to reviews, interviews, articles, excerpts, from 1943 to today.… Read the rest



An Appreciation of Saul Bellow *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

He closed the gap between Thomas Mann and Damon Runyon.… Read the rest



Saul Bellow *

Apr 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Had no wish to be part of the ‘Hart, Schaffner and Marx’ of American letters.… Read the rest



We’ll Run Out of Straw, at This Rate

Apr 5th, 2005 8:44 pm | By

A little wisdom from Foucault. ‘Truth and Power.’

Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint. And it includes regular effects of power…’Truth’ is to be understood as a system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution, circulation and operation of statements. ‘Truth’ is linked in a circular relation with systems of power which produce and sustain it, and to effects of power which it induces and which extend it.

That’s a pretty glaring bit of rhetorical sleight of hand. It’s fairly obvious that he’s talking about truth-claims, not truth itself. There’s a big (and important) difference! Obviously truth-claims can be (and often are) power-moves. The same is not … Read the rest



Japanese History Textbooks Anger Neighbours *

Apr 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Nanjing massacre of 300,000 called ‘incident.’… Read the rest



Scientific American Repents *

Apr 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Late conversion to fair and balanced reporting. What a relief.… Read the rest



The University of Minnesota is Touching

Apr 5th, 2005 | By PZ Myers

Yesterday, I was alerted by my wife about some announcements on the state of the University of Minnesota. We are a public institution, you know, which is synonymous with “cash-strapped and struggling to make ends meet” in these days of Republican antipathy to higher education. The university is cutting some substantial programs to save money, which is bad news, but what caught my eye was a related news item in the Star Tribune: the University of Minnesota is being sued for promoting religion.

As you might guess, my interest was pricked. It seems we are being sued by Wisconsin’s Freedom From Religion Foundation for mingling religion with our health care.

The lawsuit was filed on Friday, March 25. It

Read the rest


Ms Magazine on the Pope *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

Could have done a great deal better.… Read the rest



Outrage! Press Release on Pope *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

Attacks on human rights of women and gays immoral; condom ban cost millions of lives.… Read the rest



The Pope Has Blood on his Hands *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

The Vatican condemned condoms, which might have saved countless Catholics from an agonising Aids death. … Read the rest



Pope Ignored Reformists, Vatican Banned Condoms *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

John Paul replaced reformist cardinals and bishops with traditionalists.… Read the rest



On Happiness *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

Bentham, economics, envy, Freud, Klein, alientation, solidarity.… Read the rest



Einstein Was on a Roll *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

So he produced a real belter for his June offering: On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.… Read the rest



Einstein as Writer *

Apr 4th, 2005 | Filed by

Letters best source of his caustic humour, humanity, impatience, various passions.… Read the rest



Gertrude, Gertrude, What is the Answer?

Apr 3rd, 2005 7:44 pm | By

A bit more on this ‘science can’t answer the why questions’ trope. Because it’s a surprisingly enduring and frequently-heard one, and yet it’s completely worthless. If it’s so worthless, why is it so enduring and so often repeated? Because not enough people say often enough how worthless it is? That must be it. Okay so let’s all start saying that more often, and maybe with our combined weight we can beat it to death.

What the silly phrase means is that science doesn’t permit itself to make up answers to why questions, whereas religion and ‘theology’ do. The idea that that makes religion and theology superior rather than grossly inferior is ludicrous.

You could play that game in all sorts … Read the rest