Philosophers Nick Bostrom and Julian Baggini comment.
Category: Latest News
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
-
Yet Another Complaint About ‘Aggressive’ Atheism
First put words in its mouth, then say it can best be called aggressive.
-
Atheists Respond
They vilify atheists and distort their views, then complain of how divisive they are.
-
Panda’s Thumb on the Pivar Lawsuit
According to Pivar, Gould only endorsed evolutionary theory under duress from ‘Darwinian orthodoxy.’
-
Tim Sandefur on Pivar
‘Calling someone a “crackpot” is simply not actionable as libel, except in rare circumstances.’
-
Blake Stacey on Pivar
On censorship-by-intimidation.
-
Review of Chris Mooney’s ‘Storm World’
The evidence is on the side of those who think hurricanes are changing along with global warming.
-
Harun Yahya Blocks all of WordPress in Turkey
A thriving citizen-journalist community has been silenced because of the ego of one rich creationist.
-
Excerpt from Zimbardo’s ‘The Lucifer Effect’
When all members of a group are in a deindividuated state, their mental functioning changes.
-
Ali Eteraz on Harun Yahya and Censorship
What does this say about the promises that Islamist parties make before actually acquiring power?
-
Haleh Esfandiari Released on Bail
Another Iranian-American academic, Kian Tajbakhsh, is thought to remain in prison in Iran.
-
Religious Donations Fund Islamic ‘Schools’
Foreign money is fuelling the tide of Islamist violence washing across northern Pakistan.
-
PZ Myers Sued for Unfavorable Book Review
Stuart Pivar sues Seed Media Group and PZ for ‘Assault, Libel, and Slander.’
-
Hurricane Dean and Global Warming
Chris Mooney on what we can and can’t reliably say about the two.
-
David Colquhoun on an Age of Endarkenment
Truth ceased to matter very much, and dogma and irrationality became once more respectable.
-
Mark Lilla on the Politics of God
Our problems are those of the 16th century: competing revelations, dogmatic purity, divine duty.
-
Habermas on Coffee and Coffeehouses
The coffeehouse provides speech conditions that are foundational for rational political self-determination.
-
Deborah Lipstadt and Others on Holocaust Denial
Truth and history are, from both an ideological and strategic perspective, far more powerful weapons than laws.
-
Stephen Law on the War for Children’s Minds
To what extent should schools encourage deference to authority on moral and religious matters?
-
Denis Dutton on Bad Writing
The point is not communication; the point is that you are to fall on your knees before such an elevated person.