The Mormon one is funny.… Read the rest
TV Chat Show for Women in Afghanistan 
Oct 1st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Afghan women have a few problems, and no one to talk to about them.… Read the rest
Wild Gorillas Reported to Use Tools
Oct 1st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A stick to test water depth, a log as a bridge across swampy ground.… Read the rest
Darfur War Crimes Warnings
Oct 1st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hilary Benn says the International Criminal Court is collecting evidence.… Read the rest
Thin-skinned Syndrome
Oct 1st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Was guy who mumbled ‘nonsense’ at Jack Straw thrown out because offensive to foreign secretary community?… Read the rest
Freud and his Critics: a Discussion
Oct 1st, 2005 | By Allen Esterson, Richard Warnotck, Paul PowerFrom B&W’s Letters page, a discussion of Freud, Webster, Masson, the unconscious, the seduction theory. Allen Esterson is the author of Seductive Mirage: an Exploration of the Work of Sigmund Freud.
Richard R. Warnotck, 25/09/2005
Understanding history may not be absolutely essential to understanding psychology but it is at least very helpful. The truth is that Webster gets some of Freud’s ideas just wrong, so his arguments are directed not so much against Freud as against his caricature of Freud. Consider the issue of ‘unconscious emotions’.
Here is Webster, page 250:
“One of the central objections to Freud’s methodology, however, is that by positing the existence of an Unconscious he effectively deepens the very mysteries which he claims to … Read the rest
A Problem in Democracy
Oct 1st, 2005 1:46 am | By Ophelia BensonThis article by Ishtiaq Ahmed raises an issue I fret about a lot. It’s one which doesn’t get discussed much, especially not in unequivocal and non-euphemistic terms. The issue is: democracy is widely seen as a good thing, and in many ways it is a good thing, but – there is a problem. The problem is that there is no magic mechanism that prevents majorities from voting to take away or deny the rights of some people – of even a majority, such as for instance women. The disputes over the Iraqi constitution are all about that problem, obviously, and yet the problem is seldom put in quite those terms. But it is a very real problem, which is why … Read the rest
