Frets at self-righteous certainty, gobsmacking ignorance, irrational bogeymen.… Read the rest
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
School Head Cross About ‘Faith’ Schools 
Apr 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Government warns of religious division and fundamentalism but approves ‘faith’ schools. … Read the rest
James Buchan on Adam Smith
Apr 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Adam Smith of the neo-conservative right has abolished not just history but also morality. … Read the rest
Royal Society on Creationism in Schools
Apr 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Belief that Earth was formed in 4004 BC not consistent with evidence from geology, astronomy, physics.… Read the rest
John Sutherland Interviews Lewis Wolpert
Apr 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If religion is a result of the way our brains are wired, all the more reason to question the truth of our beliefs.… Read the rest
Germany’s Second Unification
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neither multicultural pieties nor hysterical fear-mongering will help anyone.… Read the rest
The Sectarian Mind is at Home Everywhere
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Todd Gitlin wonders why the left is so determined to eat its own.… Read the rest
‘The Next Person to be Killed is Shirin Ebadi’
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Through this belief – that the intellectuals had abandoned God – they justified the killings as religious duty.… Read the rest
There is Nothing ‘Protective’ About Child Marriage
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Feudalism, exploitation, caste hierarchy, patriarchy, tradition, seeing girls as slave labour.… Read the rest
Misguided ‘Respect’ for Traditions
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Aisha begged child-protection authorities for help; not wishing to be seen as culturally insensitive, they refused.… Read the rest
The Passion Of Amartya Sen
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We can be more than one kind of person, given different contexts, avers our argumentative Indian.’… Read the rest
Bernard-Henri Lévy Savaged in a New Book
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Best-selling books established Lévy as popular intellectual, irritated less well-known philosophers.… Read the rest
Is Fred Barnes Kidding or Deluded?
Apr 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many people find ‘insurgent’ and ‘rebel’ unlikely designations for George W Bush. … Read the rest
Goethe as the Advocate of ‘Cheerful Pessimism’
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Placing Goethe in a tradition reaching back to Epicurus and Lucretius.… Read the rest
Arthur Danto on Descartes
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Intellectual quarrels in the 17th century were waspish and insulting, like British book reviewing today.… Read the rest
Experimental Philosophy and its Critics
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Experimentalists can’t be sure subjects are responding to the philosophical principles at stake.… Read the rest
BHL and Anatol Lieven Debate Neoconservatism
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Have the neoconservatives advanced any notions which liberalism and the left could learn from? … Read the rest
The New U and Non-U
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Universalist or cultural relativist.… Read the rest
James Randi’s Newsletter
Apr 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Annual Pigasus awards, and a recommendation.… Read the rest
