A few elements from the 1932 Platform of the Democratic Party. Overall the document calls for much expansion of government, but also these: * An immediate and drastic reduction of governmental expenditures by abolishing useless commissions and offices, consolidating departments and bureaus and eliminating extravagance, to accomplish a saving of not less than 25% in
1932 Platform of the Democratic Party Read More »
In his 1835 work on Religion and Philosophy in Germany, Heinrich Heine makes this strong claim about Immanuel Kant’s philosophy. While many have characterized Kant as fundamentally a man of reason and a paragon of the Enlightenment, Heine suggests otherwise: “But though Immanuel Kant, the arch-destroyer in the realm of thought, far surpassed in terrorism
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I debated University of Queensland professor John Quiggin at a wonderfully full auditorium in Brisbane, Australia. Quiggin argued that postmodernism is a right-wing phenomenon, as evidenced by climate-change denialism and the presidency of Donald Trump. I argued the negative. An hour of debate, followed by audience questions. Also a brief comment from John Anderson, former
Debate: Is Postmodernism Right-Wing or Left-Wing? Read More »
Plato on Censorship and “the Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry” Excerpt from Book 10 of The Republic. Written 360 B.C.E. [Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Speakers: Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Socrates:] Of the many excellences which I perceive in the order of our State, there is none which upon reflection pleases me better
Plato’s Myth of Gyges Excerpt from Book 2 of The Republic Written 360 B.C.E. The liberty which we are supposing may be most completely given to them in the form of such a power as is said to have been possessed by Gyges the ancestor of Croesus the Lydian. According to the tradition, Gyges was
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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Excerpt from Book 7 of The Republic (360 BCE) Written 360 B.C.E. [Socrates and Glaucon in conversation] [Socrates:] And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the
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Imagine a college dormitory, students away from home, and available alcohol. In any student population, some will drink too much. But most will do fine. Now suppose a Dean of Students who installs a bar in the dorm and subsidizes the price of booze, especially for favored students. Not surprisingly, the amount of student drunkenness
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WHAT FOUCAULT LIKED TO DO TO ARAB BOYS. Excerpt from Douglas Murray’s The War on the West (2022): It is always unpleasant—as well as unwise—for thinkers to lambaste each other because of the habits of their personal lives. The personal is not always political and is certainly not always philosophical. Yet in March 2021, a
What Foucault liked to do with Arab boys — excerpt from Murray’s book Read More »