‘Indian history from the perspective of the Hindutva ideology reintroduces ideas that have long been discarded and are of little relevance to an understanding of the past.’… 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.
Mary Lefkowitz on Distortions of History
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He has his view and you have yours and they have theirs. So it goes.… Read the rest
Paul Boghossian on the Sokal Hoax.
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘To concede that no one ever believes something solely because it’s true is not to deny that anything is objectively true.’… Read the rest
Lee Smith on Tariq Ramadan
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Ramadan is a cold-blooded Islamist who believes that Islam is the cure for the malaise wrought by liberal values.’… Read the rest
‘Why should science be any different?’
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We no longer defer to bishops or politicians; scientists are simply facing the same fate.’ Yes but bishops are one thing and scientists are another. We can demand that scientists produce evidence, but what evidence can a bishop offer?… Read the rest
Research psychology or psychotherapy.
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘…many of the widely accepted claims promulgated by therapists are based on subjective clinical opinions and have been resoundingly disproved by empirical research conducted by psychological scientists.’… Read the rest
Susan Haack on Vulgar Rortyism
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s important to distinguish between necessary, useful technicality, and jargon or pseudo-mathematics substituting for genuine rigor.… Read the rest
Democracy and its Global Roots
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Developments take place in a world linked by ideas rather than by race.’… Read the rest
A Designer Universe?
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What a coincidence that we’re here and not on that nasty Pluto.… Read the rest
Raymond Tallis on Sokal & Bricmont.
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The protection built into Theory…is composed of layer on layer of ignorance.’… Read the rest
Naomi Weisstein defends the beanie hat
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We need to know what’s out there so that we can change it.… Read the rest
You Mean Movie Characters Aren’t Real People?
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No it’s not just an accident that the character who gets Tom Hanks killed in Saving Private Ryan is both an intellectual and a coward. Spielberg is making a point, a bad point, and we need to pay attention.… Read the rest
Carol Tavris Wonders Where the Evidence Is
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘But the gender-genre books that are based largely on clinical intuition and popular psychology typically lack a basic skepticism toward received wisdom and the willingness to wrestle with an idea to see who wins.’… Read the rest
Science, Scientism, and Anti-Science in the Age of Preposterism
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We are in danger of losing our grip on the concepts of truth, evidence, objectivity, disinterested inquiry.’… Read the rest
Limitations of Political Reporting
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Investors need to know the truth, but voters don’t. Or not.… Read the rest
Melvin Konner takes on the opponents of sociobiology.
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Biologists who had done no primary research in human sciences nevertheless issued anathemas on it.… Read the rest
Holocaust Denial on Trial
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Deniers distort history in order to promote antisemitism and white supremacy.… Read the rest
Irfan Khawaja takes issue with Daniel Pipes
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Militant Islam and militant Christian fundamentalism are indeed related.… Read the rest
Richard Dawkins’ review of Not in Our Genes
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In their ‘paranoiac and demonological theology of science’ Lewontin, Kamin and Rose fire both barrels with equal monotony and imprecision: ‘determinism’ and ‘reductionism’. But the gallant little fire brigade has perpetrated a fatuous little book.… Read the rest
The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes
Apr 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Consider Will Crooks, Labour MP. ‘Growing up in extreme poverty…Crooks spent 2d. on a secondhand Iliad, and was dazzled…’… Read the rest