Monday, September 26, 2016
Peter
Wehner, a former Republican official, reviews a new book about the author of Narnia. He believes the great writer’s political
views were influenced by his religious background – and were close to those of “classical
liberals” like John Locke and John Stuart Mill.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
In
this essay, Stanford classicist and poli sci professor Josiah Ober tries to
explain why Socrates chose to accept the verdict of the Athenian jury – and commit
suicide. Ober introduces several different interpretations, and challenges the
conventional view doubting the legitimacy of the whole trial.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
The
title says it all – Mike Judge was planning to release spoof campaign ads
featuring the hilarious U.S.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
This
blog post contains a curious comic illustrating Neil Postman’s fear that “Huxley,
not Orwell, was right” in describing the totalitarianism of the future. Of
course, with the growth of government and corporate surveillance, it has become
a lot harder to dismiss Orwell. Postman was the most famous media critic – and skeptic
– since Marshal McLuhan.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
This article tries to explain “why apocalyptic fiction and film haven’t caught on in
the Middle Kingdom.” It makes a curious comparison to American mass (and
high-brow) culture, rife with dystopian visions. It also suggests things may be
changing, but quite slowly…
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
The
strapline for this article says “the Enlightenment philosopher’s attack on
cosmopolitan élites now seems prophetic.” The piece also suggests Rousseau knew
from personal experience haw hard it is to resists temptation without fear of
God. The author of the profile is a famous Indian writer – and I assume the
title comes from the editors.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
A contemporary American conservative
argues that John Stuart Mill’s understanding of liberty and the harm principle is
a poor guide in addressing today’s drug epidemic.
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