The struggle between ‘Godly America’ and ‘Worldly America’ continues.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Happy Darwin Day
Feb 12th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonScience is our most reliable knowledge system, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity.… Read the rest
High Tension
Feb 11th, 2005 8:50 pm | By Ophelia BensonA couple of further thoughts on the Taboo question. There is a lot of tension in all this – because there are some rational, non-ostrich-like, non-fingers-in-ears, non-You Can’t Say That reasons for worry about, for instance, saying that a particular identifiable set of people may have, in however small a statistical sense, less of a given ability than another set or sets. One such reason is the self-fulfilling prophesy. The worry is that if you tell people – especially and all the more so if you tell them officially academically scientifically studies have shownically – that they are, or they belong to a group or subset of the population that is, statistically, however slightly and tail end effectly, innately less … Read the rest
More Republican Fans Than He Wants
Feb 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHitchens was getting bored with politics and politicians.… Read the rest
Death of a Playwright
Feb 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMichael Billington: ‘He had to create a tradition rather than inheriting one.’… Read the rest
Arthur Miller
Feb 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWriting plays was for him like breathing.… Read the rest
Marxist Storm Eats Toast With Neocons
Feb 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSunday Times meets Norm Geras.… Read the rest
Norman Geras on the Reductions of the Left
Feb 11th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhen imperialism is the only thing and everything else is epiphenomenal.… Read the rest
Samantha Power on Bush Admin and ICC
Feb 10th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAdmin has denounced genocide in Darfur, good, but blocked ICC, bad.… Read the rest
US Opposes Criminal Court Action on Darfur
Feb 10th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBush administration doesn’t want to ‘legitimize’ the International Criminal Court.… Read the rest
No, US Was not Founded on ‘Christian Principles’
Feb 10th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe founders were deists and atheists, not godbotherers.… Read the rest
Michael Ruse’s Eulogy for Ernst Mayr
Feb 10th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLong, detailed, indispensable.… Read the rest
Taboo U
Feb 9th, 2005 8:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere is a lot of discussion of the Taboo mentality going on right now – which is good, in the sense that the dangers of the taboo mentality are being pointed out, but it’s bad, in the sense that there is also a lot of Taboo mentality around right now. Is it worth it to have some people thinking badly to give an occasion for other people to explain what’s wrong with bad thinking? Wouldn’t it be better and simpler just to have everyone thinking clearly to begin with? Yes, probably, but since that’s not going to happen, it’s a good thing there are people around to do some nudging.
Salman Rushdie at Open Democracy, for example.
… Read the restAt Cambridge
Brown v Churchill
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIs the issue free speech or academic standards?… Read the rest
A Genocide That Wasn’t?
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThomas Brown says Ward Churchill invented a story of intentional smallpox infection.… Read the rest
Statement of Prof. Yakin Ertürk After Visit to Iran
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDiscriminatory laws perpetuate violence against women. … Read the rest
Noah Feldman Reviews Books on Political Islam
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonConcern about unintended consequences of civilizational encounters.… Read the rest
Salman Rushdie on the Danger of Taboo-thought
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe moment you say any idea system is sacred, freedom of thought becomes impossible. … Read the rest
The Star-nosed Mole and ‘Intelligent Design’
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEvolutionary biologists have offered hypotheses for how complex things evolve in nature. … Read the rest
Taboo Mentality at Odds With Free Inquiry
Feb 9th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHow much we want to believe a proposition is not a reliable guide as to whether it is true.… Read the rest