All entries by this author

Russell Jacoby on Shock-Horror of Liberal Universities *

Apr 3rd, 2005 | Filed by

Conservatives distrust unregulated intellectuals.… Read the rest



Chandra v Eddington on the Fate of White Dwarf Stars *

Apr 3rd, 2005 | Filed by

Chandra did the maths, Eddington said It Could Not Be.… Read the rest



Review of Book on Unreason *

Apr 3rd, 2005 | Filed by

Reviewer asks some dubious questions.… Read the rest



Church Demands Monopoly on Superstition *

Apr 2nd, 2005 | Filed by

Time to stop calling it faith; superstition is the right word.… Read the rest



Even a Catholic Theologian Can See *

Apr 2nd, 2005 | Filed by

A ‘fraudulent church that has calcified and become senile behind its glittering façade.’… Read the rest



Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report *

Apr 2nd, 2005 | Filed by

The report on allegations about faculty conduct at Columbia.… Read the rest



Middle-Eastern Studies at Columbia *

Apr 2nd, 2005 | Filed by

Report finds no evidence of anti-Semitism in department.… Read the rest



Nightwaves: Is Science Too Powerful? *

Apr 2nd, 2005 | Filed by

Norman Levitt, Julian Baggini and A S Byatt discuss. … Read the rest



Night Waves

Apr 2nd, 2005 5:16 am | By

Well it’s a good thing I listen to Night Waves occasionally, or I never would have known about this – which makes me think I really ought to shout at I mean remonstrate with Julian for not telling me, because I can hardly imagine anything more directly up B&W’s street. Well I ask you – two of the four panelists have contributed to B&W, and one of those two contributes on a regular basis, often, every two weeks, or thereabouts. So listen to it – it’s as interesting as it sounds.

The only trouble is, Nighwaves makes the usual tedious stupid mistake and has a theologian join in, and he does way too much of the talking, and says fatuous … Read the rest



More From the R-Man

Apr 1st, 2005 9:02 pm | By

A little more Rorty, for your amusement, and for the irritation of people who are irritated by my take on Rorty.

Pragmatism, by contrast, does not erect Science as an idol to fill the place once held by God. It views science as one genre of literature – or, put the other way around, literature and the arts as inquiries, on the same footing as scientific inquiries…Some of these inquiries come up with propositions, some with narratives, some with paintings. The question of what propositions to assert, which pictures to look at, what narratives to listen to…are all questions about what will help us get what we want (or about what we should want.

That’s from Consequences of Pragmatism page … Read the rest



Tell Them, Gov

Apr 1st, 2005 7:52 pm | By

Well done, governor of Illinois. Step up, other 49 governors.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed an emergency rule Friday requiring pharmacies that sell contraceptives to fill prescriptions for birth control quickly, following recent incidents in which a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill orders for contraceptives because of moral opposition. “Our regulation says that if a woman goes to a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control, the pharmacy is not allowed to discriminate who they sell it to and who they don’t,” Blagojevich said in a news release. “The pharmacy will be expected to accept that prescription and fill it … No delays. No hassles. No lecture. Just fill the prescription.”

Well said. A little bluntness is welcome and necessary … Read the rest



Republicans Worried About Flight From Reason? *

Apr 1st, 2005 | Filed by

Judge Greer needs bodyguards, Judge Birch reminds Congress of role of Constitution.… Read the rest



Illinois Governor Files Emergency Rule *

Apr 1st, 2005 | Filed by

Outlaws precription refusal by pharmacists. ‘No delays. No hassles. No lecture.’… Read the rest



Religious Pharmacists Refuse to Do Their Jobs *

Apr 1st, 2005 | Filed by

Latest manifestation of the religious right’s growing political reach.… Read the rest



Creationism On The Rise In UK? *

Apr 1st, 2005 | Filed by

A teacher’s union says it is.… Read the rest



Monotheists Unite to Express Hostility to Gays *

Apr 1st, 2005 | Filed by

It’s so touching when one bigotry trumps another.… Read the rest



Theocracy in America

Apr 1st, 2005 3:22 am | By

It’s all quite alarming, as Paul Krugman points out.

Democratic societies have a hard time dealing with extremists in their midst. The desire to show respect for other people’s beliefs all too easily turns into denial: nobody wants to talk about the threat posed by those whose beliefs include contempt for democracy itself.

Doesn’t it just. Which is one reason I keep nagging so relentlessly at this ‘desire to show respect for other people’s beliefs’ – asking why we have it for some kinds of beliefs and not others, and why we have it at all, and the like. I mean, seriously – one reason I don’t have desire to show respect for other people’s beliefs is because people … Read the rest



This Again

Apr 1st, 2005 3:15 am | By

Just in case you’re interested. Yet another argument about the French hijab ban at Crooked Timber, in which CT frames the issue as if all Muslims and people from majority-Muslim countries were opposed to the ban and only honky imperialists and totalitarian secularists were in favour of it. I shouldn’t be rude; the intentions are good; but there always is so much left out of this discussion, it gets up my nose. Never so much as a mention of Ni Putes ni Soumises, or the fact that a majority of Muslim women polled in France favour the ban – which you would think would be relevant to a discussion that’s premised on the idea that the ban is humiliating because … Read the rest



Strange but True Excuse Me I Mean ‘True’

Apr 1st, 2005 2:57 am | By

I mentioned Rorty. Well I’ve been reading him lately. I knew he had a habit of saying strange things – but he says even stranger things than I realized he had a habit of saying. That is, he says some things that are so strange I find myself surprised that he says them. Taken aback, disconcerted, astonished, amazed. Maybe that’s why he says them – so that people will have such reactions. That is one reward of saying things, of course. I know people who tell absurd lies for that very purpose – the fun of causing their interlocutors to splutter and wheeze and argue. Maybe that’s what Rorty is doing. He only does it to annoy, because he knows … Read the rest



Krugman on Religious Extremism *

Mar 31st, 2005 | Filed by

Jeb Bush sent cops to seize Schiavo; Judge in case needs armed bodyguards.… Read the rest