They published the Motoons, and were about to publish more Motoons. Can’t allow that. Boom.… Read the rest
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Charlie Hebdo office destroyed by bomb!
Nov 2nd, 2011 9:35 am | By Ophelia Benson
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Trending up
Nov 1st, 2011 4:06 pm | By Ophelia BensonFTB got almost 5 million pageviews for October. That’s a lot. I knew you would be pleased.… Read the rest
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Forced everything!
Nov 1st, 2011 3:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonPZ had a good time with a blogger fretting about the US moving from democracy to despotism on account of not sucking up to Catholic bishops quite enough. I took a look at the blog post and spotted an item or two for mopping up.
… Read the restThe Church is raising the alarm: Our religious liberty is under attack.
Cardinal Francis George was prophetic in 2009 when he said the White House had taken “the first step in moving our country from democracy to despotism.” That was when President Obama broke the promise he made to Catholics at Notre Dame and made the decision to strip conscience rights from Catholic health care professionals, a ruling that could force them to either perform
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What she said
Nov 1st, 2011 11:11 am | By Ophelia BensonSo there’s this atheist comedian Kate Smurthwaite who did a BBC1 chat thing which went viral, and she got the kind of comments that women get. She posted a selection, and they’re…the kind of comments that women get. There was one about the trash-talking cunt getting her tongue ripped out, and more than one about how she needs to be gang-raped.
And she comments a little.
Interesting to see how a lot of people actually feel. I know almost no-one
would say these horrid things to my face. So in a sense it’s good that the
Internet lets women and other groups see how much some people really hate us.
In a sense, but only in a sense. It’s … Read the rest
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It’s an outrage
Nov 1st, 2011 8:53 am | By Ophelia BensonThere are more, and even worse, details at WEIT. It’s all really quite astonishing.
… Read the restWell, you’re not going to see that tape—ever. After agreeing to be taped, Haught decided that he didn’t want the video released. Here’s what happened:
- Dr. Robert Rabel, head of the Gaines Center for the Humanities, which sponsored the debate, informed me on Sunday that Haught had requested that he did not want the video posted. Note that Haught had already agreed to be taped, so his appeal that it not be made public was a post facto decision.
- Rabel decides to honor Haught’s request on the grounds that he didn’t get permission from Haught in advance to post the video. I find
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If you disagree with a woman, talk about raping her
Nov 1st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEspecially if she’s an atheist woman.… Read the rest
John Haught tries to hide
Nov 1st, 2011 7:45 am | By Ophelia BensonHow tacky. I’ve disliked everything I’ve read by John Haught, and it turns out he’s a sore loser, too.
John Haught is suppressing the video of the debate he had with Jerry Coyne. He signed off on permission before the debate, but has now reneged, claiming he did poorly because of the presence of “Jerry’s groupies”, and that the event “failed to meet what I consider to be reasonable standards of fruitful academic exchange”. He got his ass kicked, in other words.
Bad, bad, very bad.… Read the rest
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A carnival
Oct 31st, 2011 5:51 pm | By Ophelia BensonDan Fincke hosts Philosophers’ Blog Carnival # 133. All you know-nothing peeps who think philosophy is just wankery, read and learn.
Just a few selected teasers -
- Thinking about the “vagueness” charge leveled against Occupy Wall Street, Benjamin S. Nelson, at Talking Philosophy explores virtues that listeners need to have before they can go blame communicators for failing to express themselves adequately.
- Andrew Taggart has an extensively detailed discussion of his Philosophical Counseling business (replete with FAQ), in which he explains both how it works and how he charges for it, makes for a fascinating read. It seems pitched towards potential clients so it also offers a glimpse not only at how one might do and charge for
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Secular morality in a nutshell
Oct 31st, 2011 5:37 pm | By Ophelia BensonSomeone who commented on a very flimsy piece by Keith Ward at Comment is Free said a good thing.
There is a constant error made in many of these articles regarding the definition and scope of religion. Religion is not the study of ethics, natural science, philosophy or astronomy and cannot generate informed hypotheses on these topics.
The domain of religion is the interpretation of the desires of supernatural beings. It exists to answer the question “what do supernatural creatures want from us?”.
I guess a key point to ask would be “is that a question that really warrants such attention?”
Quite so. Maybe they do want something – tribute, worship, deference, adoration, sacrifice, an ox roasted whole, new clothes. … Read the rest
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The demonic power
Oct 31st, 2011 4:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonHalloween wasn’t unalloyed fun for Libby Anne when she was growing up.
[Digression. Actually I don't find it unalloyed fun myself these days. I don't find all the corpses and graves all that funny, and they certainly are presented as jokey. It gets on my nerves, frankly. Just for one thing, isn't it kind of mean to people who've had people die on them recently? And I don't like all the cobweb stuff draped all over trees and shrubs and everything else within reach; they make whole blocks look junky. And I don't like the ridiculous amount of outdoor decoration there is - it seems to be more every year. Used to was, a carved pumpkin or two were all … Read the rest
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Simon Singh offers “psychic” a chance to test her psychic powers
Oct 31st, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf Sally Armstrong is a genuine psychic, then the result can only be positive, inasmuch as it would push forward our understanding of the universe.… Read the rest
All of empirical inference
Oct 30th, 2011 5:09 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere’s another entry for the What to call it problem. It comes from a comment by Richard Wein on Dan’s post replying to Dr Coyne.
Much of the confusion over “science” and “scientism” arises from the tendency of some New Atheists (including Coyne) to stretch the word “science” to mean all of empirical inference. I think this stretching is based on a correct realisation that all of empirical inference lies on a continuum, with no clear lines of demarcation between formal science, philosophy, history, everyday inference, etc.
That’s exactly what I was talking about.
… Read the restWe need a better word for “good, secular thinking” that includes science but is not limited to it. We need a word that encompasses law,
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How can we get pigs to fly?
Oct 30th, 2011 4:18 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe philosophical primate has some thoughts on being asked to do six impossible things before breakfast. The Faculty Senate asked for his input on a new initiative from the state legislature and board of regents. He responded to the following question:
2. Given increased enrollment and smaller budgets, how can we maintain and improve student success and retention?
That’s a good one, isn’t it. Uh…we can’t. Der. More students and less money: not the way to maintain and improve student success and retention. That’s like asking: given fewer workers and supplies, how can we get this building project finished faster and better?
The pp put it more eloquently.
… Read the restThe board of regents and state legislature can demand whatever they want
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On being asked “how can we do the impossible?”
Oct 30th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe state legislature can demand that faculty alter time and space, suspend gravity, and invent perpetual motion machines — but we cannot meet demands for what is simply impossible.… Read the rest
Be firm but not too firm, dogmatic but not too dogmatic
Oct 29th, 2011 4:42 pm | By Ophelia BensonTo continue…
What I call dogmatophobia is the liberal fear of being judgmental of the beliefs of others. Because everyone has a right to her opinion and no one has a monopoly on the truth, there is a tendency to think that any kind of assertion of a truth, other than of the blandest factual kind (“Paris is the capital of France”), is intolerant and morally imperialistic. Hence, people who assiduously avoid factory-farmed meat will go out of their way not to condemn ritual animal slaughter that causes needless suffering. People who would not tolerate even the sniff of sexism in their workplace bend over backwards to allow religious traditions their “right” to systemically discriminate against women.
Yes…
… Read the restIt
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Being truthful must sometimes trump being nice
Oct 29th, 2011 4:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonReading Julian’s latest. I can’t wait until I’ve read the whole thing to comment on this:
[Mark] Vernon’s advocacy of passionate agnosticism offers soothing camomile tea to those jittery after the triple espressos of the new atheists and religious fundamentalists. Since he is as genial in person as he is on the page, attacking him does feel rather like kicking a labrador puppy. But if we are serious about religion, being truthful must sometimes trump being nice, and intellectually, if not personally, Vernon needs a good kicking.
No it’s not the part about the puppy, although it’s true that a good friend of mine was a labrador puppy just a few months ago and it would have been a … Read the rest
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The media think consumerism is feminism
Oct 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCelebrity’s contribution to feminism is: if you are hot enough you will be heard, but hurry up, because you won’t be hot for long.… Read the rest
Seumas Milne calls Tunisia’s Islamist party “progressive”
Oct 29th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOthers are not so naïve.… Read the rest
QED next March
Oct 29th, 2011 11:44 am | By Ophelia BensonThere’s a fun thing going on in Manchester next March: QED 2012.
I’ll be there – as will Steve Jones and David Aaaronovitch and Edzard Ernst among others - and Maryam Namazie! Maryam and I finally get to meet; we’re excited.… Read the rest
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