Tag Archives: politics

Was Socrates really a public danger?

Josiah Ober discusses some of the circumstances of Socrates’ death – and the attitudes towards public oration by contemporaneous Athenians – in his review of Bettany Hughes’ book, The Hemlock Cup.

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Some sinister developments in Egypt

The Index on Censorship reports on the apparently co-ordinated and police-controlled “pro-Mubarak” mobs in Cairo.

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Dworkin on leading a good life for ourselves and others

Ronald Dworkin reflects on the complexity of ethics and art, and on what it might take for a life to have meaning.

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On (scientific) research and commercialisation

Heather Douglas reviews The Commodification of Academic Research: Science and the Modern University, edited by Hans Radder.

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Do societies evolve?

Mat Iredale asks to what extent “political evolution” is similar to the theory of evolution in biology.

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Gender gaps in academia

Chris Panza has found an unsettling chart showing the different percentages of PhDs awarded to women in different academic departments, and asks why the number awarded philosophy doctorates is so low.

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Why we need Nanny

Alain de Botton presents the up-sides of the “Nanny State”.

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Caldwell on “a quaint Scrutonian wonderland”

Writer Roger Caldwell finds more fantasy than political reality in Roger Scruton’s latest book, The Uses Of Pessimism and the Danger of False Hope.

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Children of Wikileaks

The Vancouver Sun predicts the imminent proliferation of WikiLeaks-style websites. But should there be any limits on freedom of speech?

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Why should society privilege religious conviction?

Richard Dawkins has a thought-provoking post here.

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