We hear much about “values” and “identity” in discussions in the media these days. Often the debate about values is specifically around so-called “British values”; and the discussion about identity is often in the context of what is referred to as “identity politics.” The discourse on both these topics in my experience tends to be… Continue reading Values and Identity
Category: Philosophy
The Neoiconoclasts Are Coming. Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!!
Trigger warning: The following article from our sketch writer contains information about extremist views which some readers may find upsetting and offensive. Those of a sensitive disposition are advised to avoid reading further. As we increasingly hear talk about our entering into a post-truth world where the consensus about what is reasonable and acceptable behaviour is being… Continue reading The Neoiconoclasts Are Coming. Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!!
Reflections on the Nature of Truth in a Post-Relativist Age
If a man says that there is no such a thing as truth, you should take him at his word and not believe him. (Roger Scruton) In classical times there were considered to be three absolute values: truth, beauty and goodness, which were considered to be rooted in the unbroken order of things, the… Continue reading Reflections on the Nature of Truth in a Post-Relativist Age
Kant and Humbug
It is perhaps no surprise that the country which brought us Kant and the categorical imperative has also given rise to the word “Gutmensch” as a term of disparagement for what English speakers tend to refer to as do-gooders, although a more accurate translation of the German would be “good thinkers.” Kant sought in his philosophy… Continue reading Kant and Humbug
Adam Smith and the Rationality of Self-Interest
Since Adam Smith the prevailing view in economics has been that the free market operates through a principle of rational self-interest. Much as Darwin later identified the underlying mechanism for the variety and dynamism of nature operating at the individual level, so Smith atomised the creation of wealth to the individual’s self-interest: “It is… Continue reading Adam Smith and the Rationality of Self-Interest
Virtuous Thinking?
Are we as human beings all different from one another, or are we not rather all basically the same? And do you feel you are a better person for the way you answered the previous question? If your answer to the second question was not a self-satisfied “well, yes”, then I commend you for your… Continue reading Virtuous Thinking?
Chance and Necessity in Populist Revolution
May you live in interesting times (Confucian curse) Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites (Edmund Burke) A scholar of impeccable academic credentials once suggested to me that revolutions are spaced about the average lifespan of a human apart, about 70 years.… Continue reading Chance and Necessity in Populist Revolution
The Politics of Division
Is the new populist style of politics emerging on both sides of the Atlantic a cause or a symptom of the increasing sense of division in society? Surveying the “Hillary for PA” Twitter feed last week as I have been known to do (well, on at least one previous occasion), I found an interesting exchange… Continue reading The Politics of Division
Self-transcendence and the multiplicity of value-worlds in the evolution of modernity
Abstract The dizzying rate of change today is bringing a focus on fundamental values that is bypassing the traditional concerns of epistemology within philosophy and the historical and political issue of the religious/secular divide. This focus points to an emerging view of social evolution driven by a transcendent view of individual identity. The nature of… Continue reading Self-transcendence and the multiplicity of value-worlds in the evolution of modernity
The Moral Basis of the European Project?
Colin Turfus asks if the European Union is or can ever be faithful to its own founding principles. The Two Pillars For over half a century now a project has been under way to transform European society from what it was at the mid-point of the 20th century, a disparate collection of peoples possessed of… Continue reading The Moral Basis of the European Project?