If agencies say what you don’t want to hear, then re-organize them.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Blore Moor I Mean More Bloor
Oct 9th, 2004 8:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonA little more Bloor for you, in case you’ve been missing him.
The law which is at work here appears to be this: those who are defending a society or a subsection of society from a perceived threat will tend to mystify its values and standards, including its knowledge…[T]he variable of perceived threat operating upon underlying social metaphors explains the differential tendency to treat knowledge as sacred and beyond the reach of scientific study.
This is interesting stuff, because what Bloor means by ‘beyond the reach of scientific study’ is ‘not considered amenable to substantive analysis by people who are not trained in the subject.’ That is, he is claiming (in great detail, e.g. via an extended comparison of Popper … Read the rest
UN Investigates Sugar Industry
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDid sugar industry fund human dietary requirements study?… Read the rest
E Nesbit Eschewed Whimsy and Sentiment
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe feels more edgy and disconcerting than many contemporary children’s writers. … Read the rest
Le Monde Interview with Derrida
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDangerously ill, but writing and talking nonetheless.… Read the rest
Jacques Derrida est Mort
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLe Monde says Derrida was French philosopher best known abroad, especially in US.… Read the rest
Derrida’s Dead
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe died on Friday. He was suffering from pancreatic cancer.… Read the rest
Churches Launch Climate Campaign
Oct 9th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNot yet clear what role God will be playing.… Read the rest
The Restorative Power of Jesus Christ
Oct 8th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd the refusal of contraceptives to unmarried women. Great appointment.… Read the rest
The War on Science, Bush Division
Oct 8th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAuthor of As Jesus Cared for Women appointed to reproductive health drugs advisory committee of FDA.… Read the rest
Hostage Ken Bigley Has Been Murdered
Oct 8th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThree weeks of nightmare end in more nightmare.… Read the rest
Nonsense
Oct 8th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHistory is not just a ‘story’ and neither is journalism.… Read the rest
Poetry Day
Oct 7th, 2004 8:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonChris at Crooked Timber points out that it’s National Poetry day in the UK, and gives his favourite Shakespeare sonnet. I don’t have one favourite, because there are too many, though if I did have to pick one I decided it would be either 116 or 29. Either ‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediment’ or ‘When in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes.’ But there are several other top favourites, which I shared with the lucky readers of CT, so I’ll share them with our readers too.
Like as the waves make toward the pebbled shore
and
When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defaced
and
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless … Read the rest
All That Ink
Oct 7th, 2004 7:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd sometimes I just waste my time. Inevitable, no doubt – but disconcerting when it happens. There I was this morning reading away at David Bloor, and making notes. Scribble scribble eh Mr Gibbon. I made a longish note about the way he uses the word ‘conventional’ and what a tricky word it can be. It implies a ‘mere’ but convention isn’t always mere. For instance, it’s true enough to say, as Bloor, and Barnes and the Strong Programme in general, do say, that the rules and criteria of science are conventional, but it doesn’t follow that they’re merely conventional. ‘One can have knowledge or findings,’ I pointed out sagely to myself, ‘that are conventional without being mere. In fact … Read the rest
Friends of America’s Past on NAGPRA Amendment
Oct 7th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTwo little words – ‘or was’.… Read the rest