Dangor, Hall, Hollinghurst, Mitchell, Tóibín, Woodward.… Read the rest
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Postmodernism at the Post
Sep 21st, 2004 10:45 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis is a deeply irritating article in the Washington Post. The guy who wrote it seems to think (as so many postmodernists and ‘theorists’ seem to think) that postmodernism thought of everything and that nobody thought of anything before postmodernism came along, or independently of postmodernism after it came along. But that is not the case.
… Read the restSitting in the shadow of the Capitol, on some of the most prestigious real estate in Washington, the new museum has emerged with ambitions far greater than simply putting a sunny face on the kind of anthropology represented by Mead, or becoming a Disney-style happy magnet for native peoples. It is a monument to Postmodernism — to a way of thinking that emphasizes
Confusion Run Riot
Sep 21st, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReporter seems to have confused revisionism and critical thinking with postmodernism.… Read the rest
The Ethics of History
Sep 21st, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSix Indian historians on the need for skepticism, courage, truth-seeking.… Read the rest
Aaronovitch Says Give It Up
Sep 21st, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLife and death? Civil rights? Effete urbanites? Undemocratic? No on all counts.… Read the rest
The Noise of the Pigs
Sep 20th, 2004 5:56 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnother update. Crumb Trail has a post on the pigs comment. He points out something –
It’s only funny if you know pigs. They scream for the fun of it, to socialize. Even the wild (feral) pigs that infest the woods around here scream at one another, other animals, the sky, the moon, whatever. They’re vocal like coyotes. Two pigs, or coyotes, can make enough noise in enough distinct ways that you might think there were dozens of them involved in some life and death drama unless you knew their ways. They scream more when they find something yummy than they do when they are being eaten alive by a predator.
Fair point. Pigs do scream a lot – … Read the rest
Prince Charles’ Slow Reaction Time
Sep 20th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRoy Hattersley says future monarch might want to have a word with his friends.… Read the rest
Knowing the Accusation is False is Traumatic Too
Sep 20th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Why couldn’t I withstand the pressure? I still search for that moment I gave in.’… Read the rest
Selective Hostility to Bias and Judgmentalism
Sep 20th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEve Garrard on the real reason for not using the T word. … Read the rest
The Sleep of Reason
Sep 20th, 2004 | By H. E. BaberThe embrace of relativism by many leftist intellectuals in the United States, while it may not be politically very important, is a terrible admission of failure, and an excuse for not answering the claims of their political opponents. The subordination of the intellect to partisan loyalty is found across the political spectrum, but usually it takes the form of a blind insistence on the objective truth of certain supporting facts and refusal to consider evidence to the contrary. So what explains the shift, at least by a certain slice of the intellectual left, to this new form of obfuscation?
When I was an undergraduate I volunteered to go door to door for Zero Population Growth to promote the liberalization of … Read the rest
Elephants, Foxes and Pigs
Sep 19th, 2004 8:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe discussion continues to continue. Norm has more, so does Harry, so does David T. Plus I had a long talk with Polly Toynbee on the phone earlier. No I didn’t, that’s just one of my jokes. (Or irony? No, just a joke. I don’t know from irony.) There’s quite a lot of agreement this time around. This from Harry’s –
… Read the restFor what it is worth I am not a supporter or defender of fox hunting nor am I opposed to a ban. I accept Ophelia Benson’s criticism of Polly Toynbee’s phrase “Liberals should always be wary of banning people from doing as they like”. There clearly need to be some qualifications added to such a statement
You’ll Never Ever Guess in a Million Years
Sep 19th, 2004 6:19 pm | By Ophelia BensonMaybe I should do one before anyone else does.
I was just thinking, while staring out the window in a daze and scratching, that books are one thing and people are another. How about that.
People don’t like science. What’s up with that?
Multiculturalism – hmm – one sees the point, and yet.
I’ve been reading this book. Here are some quotations from it.
Here are some more quotations from that book I’ve been reading.
Richard Dawkins rocks.
I’ve read another book. Here are some quotations from it.
Here are some more quotations from aforementioned book. Aren’t you thrilled?
People say silly things sometimes. Here’s an example. Here’s why it’s silly. I never say silly things.
I agree with my … Read the rest
Matt Ridley Reviews Richard Dawkins
Sep 19th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA philosopher of evolutionary process, explaining bodies as vehicles for propagation of genes.… Read the rest
Banned in Lebanon
Sep 19th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCatholic leaders call Da Vinci Code offensive to Christians, so it’s off shelves.… Read the rest
Holy War Against the Infidel, love, Taliban
Sep 19th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTaliban leaves ‘night letters’ to intimidate voters.… Read the rest
But What Do They Like?
Sep 19th, 2004 1:42 am | By Ophelia BensonAh. That’s reassuring. Perhaps I’m not so confused after all, since Norm makes a similar point. Not an identical point, because he doesn’t focus on the Toynbee column, he merely mentions it; but a similar one. The basic disagreement with what she said and with what Harry said at his place I take to be the same.
… Read the restHarry endorses a piece by Polly Toynbee in which she belittles the importance of the fox hunting issue relative to the ‘things that really matter’, like social injustice. In response to which I offer the following.
(1) One should care about the suffering of other sentient beings. Indifference to the suffering of others is part of the definition of cruelty.
(2) Putting
Guess that Blog!
Sep 18th, 2004 9:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonFirst off, a personal message: stop reading now Fryslan, you’re not going to like this.
I realise that there is nothing people like more than a game (except maybe chocolate); so here’s the first in a new regular spot on the B&W blog (I hate that word).
Guess that Blog
All you’ve got to do to win – and the person who gets the most right at the end of the series will win a copy of The Dictionary of Fashionable Nonsense – is to guess, on the basis of the (imaginary) subject titles below, which blog I’m talking about. Answers on a postcard; or using the comments facility below.
Here we go:
1. Republicans are fascists.
2. Bush stole … Read the rest
Eco Against Occultism and Fundamentalisms
Sep 18th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonScience progresses by correcting itself and admitting its own mistakes.… Read the rest
Alexander Chancellor on Andrew Marr
Sep 18th, 2004 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMarr admires responsible journalism – the conscientious and honest reporting of facts. … Read the rest
Liberty Hall
Sep 18th, 2004 3:28 am | By Ophelia BensonI’m confused – I must be, because I really don’t understand this at all. I usually like Polly Toynbee (not that I read everything she writes), but this seems to me to be a very odd thing to say:
The countrysiders in the Lords will oppose the hunting bill again, but others will oppose it for good liberal reasons – proving the need for a second chamber. Liberals should always be wary of banning people from doing as they like. There needs to be an overwhelming case for the serious harm done: hunting just doesn’t meet that criteria (killing a few foxes is not more cruel than battery farming).
Wait – what? ‘Liberals should always be wary of banning people … Read the rest