Ten of my favorites from the always perceptive Eric Hoffer: “Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.” “The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.” “When people are free to do […]
Eric Hoffer on true believers and false fronts Read More »
Richard Rorty on the consequences of having to abandon the objectivity and universality of reason: The best we can do is seek “inter-subjective agreement” among the “members of our own tribe.” Though feeling loyal to his American left-liberal roots, Rorty goes on to hope that we will be nice to the other tribes while doing
Richard Rorty in Explaining Postmodernism Read More »
Clichés are often over-generalizations for rhetorical purposes. “History is written by the victors” is punchy, but it is too often a cynical dismissal of objectivity in history. So here is the beginnings of a list of influential history books that do not fit the cliché: * Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War (431 BCE) was
“History is written by the victors” — true? Read More »
In 1770, tensions were high between the American colonists and their British rulers. Anxious soldiers confronting an angry mob precipitated the Boston Massacre. Eight soldiers were then put on trial for murder. The lawyer John Adams was a strong American patriot, yet he took on the defense of the British soldiers. His purpose was explicitly
Revolutionary justice: French versus American style Read More »
My “No Reformation for Islam, Please” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “Islam needs reforming but definitely not a Reformation. “The history matters here, so consider first what the Reformation activists were fighting against. During the Renaissance, the dominant Catholic religion had become worldly. Its thinkers read the naturalistic Greeks and Romans
“No Reformation for Islam, Please” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »
Crossing Martin off my next party-invitation list. “As many paces as the man takes in his dance, so many steps he takes toward Hell.” Quoted here. I like to contrast Luther with John Locke who, in his thoughts on education, mentions dancing first as an essential element of a child’s formal instruction. My explication is
Martin Luther on Dancing Read More »
[Thanks to the careful work of Paula Nedved (mter2013@gmail.com), below is a transcription (PDF here) of our video discussion diagnosing the roots of postmodernism. Dr. Peterson’s introduction: “On August 17, I spoke with Dr. Stephen Hicks, professor in the philosophy department at Rockford University. Dr. Hicks is the author of the influential and courageous 2004
Jordan Peterson and Stephen Hicks diagnose pomo [transcription] Read More »
Anti-theocratic-authoritarian protests in Iran are good news for real liberals everywhere. So it’s important that we encourage the spread of human freedom and dignity — and shame those whose silence reveals either hypocrisy or cowardice. I’m happy that two of my books have been translated into Persian/Farsi and published in Iran: Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and
Protests in Iran: Who’s speaking out and who’s silent? Read More »