* The original hoax article, “The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct,” was published by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay in the academic journal Cogent Social Sciences. * Simultaneously they published this lambasting commentary. * Salon‘s Phil Torris deflated the hoax’s significance in a scathing piece. * Professor James Taylor agreed, arguing that the hoax […]
The Conceptual Penis — further developments Read More »
What happens when one meets a tension or outright contradiction in one’s thinking? How do we evaluate those who believe or at least express positions like “There is no truth” or “All beliefs are subjectively relative”? In our first conversation, Steve Patterson and I discussed the nature and origins of postmodernism, including thinkers such as
Contradictions in thinking — Patterson interviews me on the psychology of pomo Read More »
Things have only gotten worse on campuses in the last five years. But Nick Gillespie’s interview of the excellent Kors on “Campus Speech Codes, Libertarianism, & The Case for the Humanities” is timelessly relevant.
Alan Charles Kors on free speech and education Read More »
The Financial Times has good coverage of the increasing rift between American conservatism and free-market capitalism. President Donald Trump is both a result of that rift and a furtherance of it. Many of the deep thinkers behind conservative politicians have long favored the rift. Russell Kirk, Irving Kristol, Robert Bork — who represent differing versions
The further divorce of conservatism and free markets Read More »
The Pope continues to be rather silent about the disaster in Venezuela. Why? Here a supporter of Pope offers his best gloss of the Pope’s underwhelming response to socialist-dictatorship Venezuela. Earlier the Pope had a nice visit to socialist Bolivia. And before that a gentle visit to communist-dictatorship Cuba. But Pope Francis does goes out
The Pope’s softness on Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela Read More »
Thomas Hager (p. 240) describes well the attitude of a majority of students and professors within the universities, when Hitler and and his Culture Minister demanded that all Jews be removed from their professorships: “German university students were, in general … devoted to making Germany great again. They were strongly pro-Nazi. Among faculty members, there
Forcing professors out, 1933 edition Read More »
When he was only 23, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam. His precocious intellect has already formed and argued themes that were to be developed into his mature works, Theological-Political Treatise (published anonymously in 1670) and Ethics (1677). The excommunication document said, in part: “no one should communicate with him,
Why Spinoza was excommunicated Read More »
Indeed: Jonathan Chait on Marxism today. Related: My video lecture on Marxism and its implications for education. My posts and publications on Marx and Marxism.
Chait: “Oh, Good, It’s 2016 and We’re Arguing About Whether Marxism Works” Read More »