Pope warns Europe not to ’embrace’ abortion, urges it to embrace Xianity.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Man Jailed for Taking Woman to Hospital 
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His neighbor was ill, he helped her, so he was accused by religious police of immoral behaviour.… Read the rest
Primates Expect Others to Act Rationally
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A new study shows that non-human primates infer others’ intentions in a sophisticated way.… Read the rest
Excerpt from Grayling’s Towards the Light
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A Western citizen is a possessor of rights and opportunities that only an aristocrat could hope for in the past.… Read the rest
More Kack from Madeleine Bunting
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dawkins doesn’t understand myth, he’s arrogant, Cornwell’s book is a powerful riposte.… Read the rest
Secular Group Sues Round Rock School District
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: allowing a majority vote on prayer violates federal law.… Read the rest
Two Women Beheaded in Pakistan
Sep 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A note found on the bodies said ‘We have started doing this to end obscenity in the area.’… Read the rest
Letter to a Friend: On Islamic Fundamentalism
Sep 7th, 2007 | By Daphne PataiSeptember 11, 2006 8 p.m.
Today is September 11th and I suppose every single person in this country knows what they were doing on this date five years ago. I recall the feeling of unreality I had as I watched a small TV screen here at home repeatedly play tiny images of two towers collapsing. And then, in the immediate aftermath, do you remember how many in this country – especially among intellectuals and academics – wanted to discuss what “we” had done to “deserve” this? Those were hard days, and in many respects the years since then have been harder still, for although I had by then already spent decades in the strange ideological climate of American academic life, … Read the rest
“John Cornwell”
Sep 6th, 2007 5:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonRichard Dawkins takes an exasperated look at John Cornwell’s throughgoing misrepresentation of his book. In one example, Cornwell takes part of a general discussion of consolation, which includes this passage –
We can also get consolation through discovering a new way of thinking about a situation. A philosopher points out that there is nothing special about the moment when an old man dies. The child that he once was “died’ long ago, not by suddenly ceasing to live but by growing up. Each of the seven ages of man “dies’ by slowly morphing into the next. From this point of view, the moment when the old man finally expires is no different from the slow “deaths’ throughout his life.
and … Read the rest
Simon Blackburn on Moral Relativism
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Should we just tolerate other ways of living? Can philosophers be experts in morality? … Read the rest
On Consequentialism
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Brad Hooker, a consequentialist himself, outlines and defends his position in this interview with Nigel Warburton.… Read the rest
Charlie Savage on the Imperial President [audio]
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Boston Globe reporter’s book describes how the Bush-Cheney admin has expanded executive power.… Read the rest
Hillary Clinton and Jesus
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For 15 years, HC has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill.… Read the rest
Dawkins Reads John Cornwell
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Cornwell does some annoyingly creative reading of Dawkins.… Read the rest
Dawkins Meets (and Reviews) Hitchens
Sep 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
America is far from the know-nothing theocracy that two terms of Bush had led us to fear. … Read the rest
Boys Do Ruin Schools for Girls
Sep 5th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Boys benefit from being in a classroom with girls, but girls do not benefit from being in a classroom with boys.… Read the rest
Extract from Natalie Angier’s The Canon
Sep 5th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Science is huge, a great ocean of human experience; it’s the product and point of having the most deeply corrugated brain of any species this planet has spawned. … Read the rest
Exam Plans are a Betrayal
Sep 5th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Royal Society of Chemistry head criticizes plans to make science questions easier.… Read the rest
Italy Asks UK not to Deport Emambakhsh
Sep 5th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The case of Pegah Emambakhsh has become front-page news in Italy while going almost unreported in Britain. … Read the rest
Women’s Rights? What Are They?
Sep 5th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Proposed law forbids abortions without written permission from the father of the fetus.… Read the rest
