It’s a trial in the press, but when questions are asked, it’s not.… Read the rest
Signs of Mental Activity in Patient in PVS 
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neuroscientists used fMRI to detect signs of awareness; first success with PVS patient. … Read the rest
‘Iconoclasts’ on the Philosophy of Peter Singer
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Singer, Janet Radcliffe Richards, Kenan Malik, Andrew Linzey debate. … Read the rest
Rights Trump Culture and Religion
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maryam Namazie calls cultural relativism a prescription for inaction and passivity in the face of oppression.… Read the rest
George Alagiah Sees Tensions in Multiculturalism
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Institutionalised tolerance for diversity may have led to institutional indifference to separation.… Read the rest
ACLU Condemns Approval of H.R. 2679
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Public Expression of Religion Act’ would discourage enforcement of a specific constitutional protection.… Read the rest
Why Music Matters – to Humans
Sep 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Did a taste for music evolve? Or is it just a by-product of other adaptations?… Read the rest
No Free Transport to ‘Faith’ School for Unbaptized
Sep 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
State pays for ‘faith’ transport provided the transportee is baptized. Seems generous.… Read the rest
AU Criticizes ‘Public Expression of Religion Act’
Sep 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US H.R. 2679 will make it more difficult to challenge church-state violations in court.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Robert Hughes’s Memoir
Sep 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Anyone found haunting an art gallery or a library would be suspected of being a snob and an elitist.’… Read the rest
Jesus Asks Mo a Question
Sep 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What kind of ‘believer’ considers anal rape a suitable punishment for sin?’… Read the rest
Scott McLemee on Fresh New Ideas in Conspiracy
Sep 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
9/11demands new theoretical approaches to explain the evidence, or even to bring it into existence.… Read the rest
Seyran Ates
Sep 7th, 2006 7:37 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis is horrible news.
Seyran Ates, lawyer, writer, and human rights activist was attacked at the beginning of June…by the screaming husband of one of her clients. “You whore”, the man shouted. “What ideas have you been putting into my wife’s head?” No one intervened when Mehmet O. lashed out at Ates, her client and another woman. Now Ates is facing the consequences. She has handed in her law licence and also her membership of the women’s rights organisation Terre de femmes. “This acutely threatening situation has brought home to me once more how dangerous my work as a lawyer is, and how little protection I have had and have as an individual,” Ates explains.
Great. The bullies win, … Read the rest
Seyran Ates Quits Law Practice After Attack
Sep 7th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Has handed in her law licence and quit women’s rights organisation Terre de femmes.… Read the rest
Chomsky and Trivers Discuss Deception
Sep 7th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We can see self-deception in others but not in ourselves.… Read the rest
Sad to See Usual Response of Scientists
Sep 7th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Yet again, certain selfappointed gatekeepers of science are attempting to halt progress.’… Read the rest
Life at a ‘Faith’ School
Sep 7th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Teacher questioned about her virginity by school’s owner.… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne Reviews Follies of the Wise
Sep 7th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Crews takes on fields of inquiry which have caused rational people to succumb to irrational ideas.… Read the rest
Who needs sophistry, anyway?
Sep 7th, 2006 | By Ben NelsonScientists and philosophers need sophistry. This article will
show why and how. The argument will need to draw from the history and
philosophy of science of Pierre Duhem, as well as the concepts of
intellectual property and the science of persuasion.
I. A choice of arms.
As you are reading this, you may hear a popping noise. Do not fret: it
is the faint, disquieting sound of science being broken. It is this
tiny bit of irksome vibration that really gives content to the name,
“pop science”. Well-intentioned hands of varying degrees of competence
are to blame for it.
We all know of professional errors. The most recent case that comes to
mind is that of Dr. William Hammesfahr, a … Read the rest
Do come in, the door is wide open
Sep 6th, 2006 5:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo what is the British Association for the Advancement of Science up to?
… Read the restOrganisers of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA) were accused of lending credibility to maverick theories on the paranormal by allowing the highly controversial research to be aired unchallenged. Leading members of the science establishment criticised the BA’s decision to showcase papers purporting to demonstrate telepathy and the survival of human consciousness after someone dies. They said that such ideas, which are widely rejected by experts, had no place in the festival without challenge from sceptics…Critics including Lord Winston and Sir Walter Bodmer, both former presidents of the BA, expressed particular alarm that the three speakers were allowed to hold a promotional
