Because he admired Freud; ‘if we are Freudians, we have a tragic view of life.’ Uh…… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Normblog on a Revisionist Account of Atheism
May 15th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo be an atheist, on this revisionist account of what atheism is, you have in fact to be a fool.… Read the rest
Nasty
May 15th, 2008 11:42 am | By Ophelia BensonThe tendency to lump together Muslim females in exile who have rather unsavoury views about Islam makes the voices of moderate females difficult to hear…Male exiles from the faith do not seem to attract the same sympathetic open-armed treatment as the damsel in distress…The most prominent of the “refuseniks”, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Irshad Manji and Wafa Sultan have caused a stir for allegedly being “brave enough” to criticise Islam and nail their colours to the west’s mast of values.
Interesting scare quotes on ‘brave enough’ – since all three women mentioned receive regular (and sincere) death threats. What exactly is Nesrine Malik expressing incredulity about, one wonders?
… Read the restWafa Sultan’s debut on al-Jazeera , where she
Jesus and Mo Don’t Believe in the Atheists’ God
May 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGod cannot be empirically investigated, he is ineffable, beyond our capacity. Which is handy.… Read the rest
Can U Read Kant?
May 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo Mark Bauerlein, the present is a good time to be young only if you don’t mind a tendency toward empty-headedness. … Read the rest
Irish Bishops Say: Too Many Catholic Schools
May 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson92% of the country’s primary schools are managed by the Catholic Church… Read the rest
PBS and Public History
May 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPete Seeger tells the truth in his autobiography, but a new documentary is evasive.… Read the rest
‘Harun Yahya’ Sentenced to Prison
May 14th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Foundation for Scientific Research adopted arguments from young-earth creationist organizations.… Read the rest
Wifey feminism
May 13th, 2008 1:07 pm | By Ophelia BensonWait wait wait wait – I don’t get it. I think this is exactly backward.
Clinton has benefited from a favorable gender dynamic that won’t exist in the fall. (In the Democratic primary, female voters have outnumbered males by nearly three to two.) Clinton’s claim to being a tough, tested potential commander-in-chief has gone almost unchallenged. Obama could reply that being First Lady doesn’t qualify you to serve as commander-in-chief, but he won’t quite say that, because feminists are an important chunk of the Democratic electorate. John McCain wouldn’t be so reluctant.
…What? Why is it supposed to be ‘feminist’ to think that being a first lady does qualify you to serve as commander-in-chief? What the hell is feminist about … Read the rest
Should Philosophy Talk to Non-philosophers?
May 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJonathan Barnes, Myles Fredric Burnyeat, Raymond Geuss, Barry Stroud discuss.… Read the rest
Clinton Takes the Conservative Populist Tack
May 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonClinton’s ‘hard-working Americans, white Americans’ made explicit what conservative populists usually keep implicit.… Read the rest
Review of Why Truth Matters
May 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReviewer much cleverer than authors.… Read the rest
On Fitna, the Movie
May 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMaryam Namazie, Fariborz Pooya and Bahram Soroush discuss.… Read the rest
Archbish Compares Embryo Bill to Rape
May 13th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNotes that persons must be treated as ends. Fails to note that cells are not persons.… Read the rest
The stupidity of dignity
May 12th, 2008 5:56 pm | By Ophelia BensonSteven Pinker notes that Bush’s Council on Bioethics has put out a 555-page report called Human Dignity and Bioethics.
This collection of essays is the culmination of a long effort by the Council to place dignity at the center of bioethics. The general feeling is that, even if a new technology would improve life and health and decrease suffering and waste, it might have to be rejected, or even outlawed, if it affronted human dignity.
Yes where have we heard that before…from the archbishop of Canterbury, from the pope, from lots of meddlesome priests.
… Read the restThe problem is that “dignity” is a squishy, subjective notion, hardly up to the heavyweight moral demands assigned to it. The bioethicist Ruth Macklin, who
Real Humans Are Lazy, Busy, Impulsive, Biased
May 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThat’s why they can be nudged in socially desirable directions.… Read the rest
Steven Pinker on the Stupidity of Dignity
May 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLeon Kass has a problem not just with longevity and health but with the modern conception of freedom. … Read the rest
Alan Wolfe Discovers the Forgotten Philosopher
May 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMill. Mill is forgotten? Who knew?… Read the rest
Not a Good Time for Literary Criticism
May 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonInstead of building a body of knowledge, the field wanders in circles, bending with fashions and pronouncements of gurus.… Read the rest
Raymond Geuss Remembers Rorty at Princeton
May 12th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOver the years, I did my best to set Dick right about Gadamer.… Read the rest