Fashionable nonsense has been with us since the time that prehistoric man first transcribed Of Grammatology on to the walls of the Lascaux caves. Here we cast an eye back at some historical highlights.


Tracy Morton and Kay Wilkinson v Vardy *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Vardy schools accord equal importance to both creationism and theories of evolution.… Read the rest



Philosophy: Who Needs It? *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

‘It’s a bug that has taken hold of me without asking my permission.’… Read the rest



Jesus and Mo on Mother Teresa *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Not for fans of the saint… Read the rest



Richard Dawkins Karate-chops Fashionable Nonsense *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Dawkins on fun and games.… Read the rest



Thomas Kuhn Examined *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

The shift from logic to history, and the perennial appeal of irrationalist programs.… Read the rest



Durkheim on Religion *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

The way to ‘reject the insipid relativism of the tabula rasa without denying or ignoring the freedom and variability of individual human beings and their cultures.’… Read the rest



Why Lit-crits want economists to sound more like lit-crits. *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Paul Krugman draws an interesting parallel with Stephen Jay Gould.… Read the rest



Historic Conference in Chicago March 2000 *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Conference brought Armenian
and Turkish scholars together for the first time to discuss the 1915 genocide.… Read the rest



More Than 500 Arguments for the Existence of God *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

(1) Check out that tree. Isn’t it pretty?
(2) Therefore, God exists.… Read the rest



Rigoberta Menchu *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

‘Whenever you’re told that you shouldn’t look into something, for some people, that is a very clear directive that you ought to keep looking.’… Read the rest



Meera Nanda on the Case for Indian Enlightenment *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Meera Nanda had good reasons to fight against patriarchal, upper-caste Hindu traditions that would have suppressed all she valued. Science was not ‘elitist’ or Western but a way of life and a philosophy for social action.… Read the rest



Steven Weinberg on the Sokal Hoax *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

No, linear doesn’t mean what pomos think it means.… Read the rest



A Moral Argument for Atheism *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Slaughter of innocents, human sacrifice, eternal torture – it’s all there.… Read the rest



Report on Resistentialism *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Betrousered, two-eyed philosopher Ventre considers a world in which Things are Against Us.… Read the rest



Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

When cultures are organized around controlling and using women, is blanket respect for Other cultures such a good idea?… Read the rest



‘Frontline’ on Alternative Medicine *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Alternative to what? Testing and evidence?… Read the rest



Norman Levitt on Kennewick Man. *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

NAGPRA is a well-intentioned piece of legislation that has grown into a monster of anti-scientific bias.… Read the rest



Please, No More Glamorama *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

James Wood on the grim outlook for social realism and ‘hysterical realism’, which may allow a space for the aesthetic and the contemplative again.… Read the rest



Anthropologists sharpen their knives *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

‘Anthropologists are trained to appreciate cultural differences, but they can’t stand it within their own profession.’… Read the rest



Hitchens on Contrarianism *

Apr 10th, 2010 | Filed by

‘Among his many weapons are a forensic curiosity, a vast learning, a savage wit, a commanding intellect, an international perspective and a moral authority that is built on something sturdier than cheap moralising.’… Read the rest