Washington freed his slaves in his will, Jefferson did not. The reasons of each tell us much about American history.… Read the rest
Fashionable nonsense has been with us since the time that prehistoric man first transcribed Of Grammatology on to the walls of the Lascaux caves. Here we cast an eye back at some historical highlights.
Urvashi Butalia on ‘honour’ killing.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWomen’s groups demand that murderers be treated according to laws of the land and not be allowed to find shelter behind the curtain of ‘culture’. … Read the rest
Science According to the X-Files
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We are born of primordial slime, not at the hands of a benevolent and concerned supreme being who lovingly crafted us from clay.’… Read the rest
Ni Putes ni Soumises
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We’re girls, so we’re less-than-nothings, Priscilla, 17, told Le Monde after her friend Sohane’s death.… Read the rest
Lies, Self-Deception and Magical Thinking
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPsychoanalysis was never, despite Freud’s ‘positivist rhetoric,’ a science; it was a ‘purely speculative enterprise,’ argues Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen.… Read the rest
Or Academic Pooh and Postmodern Instincts
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLiterary criticism, cultural studies; love letter and satire.… Read the rest
Literature and theory duke it out.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf Lentricchia and Said have joined, the revenge of the emeriti may not be so regressive after all.… Read the rest
Whither Irony?
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘In the clamorous and bloodstained souk of the world…people still go unrepentantly on looking out for good lives’… Read the rest
Dawkins on Maynard Smith
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘John does know more mathematics, more physics and more engineering than the average biologist. But he also knows more biology than the average biologist.’… Read the rest
Vikram Chandra on the Cult of Authenticity
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDon’t essentialize Indianness, but you’d better get the Real India right.… Read the rest
Derek Freeman or Margaret Mead?
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOne can be controversial and heretical and still be wrong.… Read the rest
Science, Scientism, and Anti-Science in the Age of Preposterism
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat is the difference between genuine inquiry and the sham and fake variety?… Read the rest
‘Without a theory, you can’t meet the people.’
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMiller wonders why ‘unavailing Latinate neologisms’ convince so many people that something profound is being said.… Read the rest
Deep, unconscious anti-science bias.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonScientists are humorless nerds, and crop circles and crystals are more fun.… Read the rest
Frank Lentricchia takes it all back.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘When I grew up and became a literary critic, I learned to keep silent about the reading experiences of liberation that I’d enjoyed since childhood.’… Read the rest
A look at Kent Hovind’s dissertation.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn fact Patriot University seems to have no standards.… Read the rest
Barbara Forrest on The Wedge at Work
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHow Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream… Read the rest
Derek Freeman Replies
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAd hominem denigration doesn’t make the case.… Read the rest
Martin Gardner looks at a Center for nonsense studies.
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDowsing, homeopathy, Tarot cards and their relevance to mental health professions, and, of course, alien abductions.… Read the rest
Livid Quietism on the Right
Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The anti-intellectuals are finally on the side of power at its most unforgiving and voracious.’… Read the rest