In a previous essay on Legality and Morality: Can Man Serve Two Masters? I considered whether respect for the law is a requirement of morality and presented my case against the proposition. I would like to continue on this theme in the following, looking at the related proposition that moral ends can be served through… Continue reading Legality and Morality: A Marriage of Convenience?
Privacy at the Dawn of the Totalitarian Digital State
What we witness today in Xinjiang, with the mass surveillance, incarceration and re-education of the Uighur population, is not just a violation of the fundamental rights of those people but a testing ground for the total surveillance society. 2020 will see the completion of China’s compulsory enrolment of every one of its citizens in a… Continue reading Privacy at the Dawn of the Totalitarian Digital State
Are we witnessing the death of freedom?
Don Trubshaw There have been voices raised against the flow in recent weeks, decrying the imposition of authoritarian measures in an attempt to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Some see in this the death of freedom. While I am sympathetic to these voices, I believe that the present crisis is only exposing a fundamental… Continue reading Are we witnessing the death of freedom?
Observance of the Rite of Lockdown
It was the 20th day of the ordinance of lockdown when Zarathustra, that renowned prophet of postmodernism, reflected that during that time his flock in the neighbouring villages might be missing his counsel. It was not that he didn’t consider his engagement with the community to be “essential” travel meriting the few hours drive in… Continue reading Observance of the Rite of Lockdown
The Politics and Economics of Trust in a Time of Crisis
In the present crisis precipitated by the Covid 19 virus there is an elephant in the room. It is a type of Utilitarian argument that the political considerations of the strategy that should be enacted – irrespective of the scientific advice – should be driven by the interests of the greatest number. In its harshest… Continue reading The Politics and Economics of Trust in a Time of Crisis
Book Review: Yoram Hazony, The Virtue of Nationalism
New York, Basic Books, 2018; 285 pages, paper, US$30 The Virtue of Nationalism, by the Israeli theologian and political philosopher Yoram Hazony, is being hailed by some as an important statement of the underpinning political ideology in the age of Brexit, Trump, Modi, Xi, Abe, Erdogan, Putin and of independence proclamations around the world, from… Continue reading Book Review: Yoram Hazony, The Virtue of Nationalism
Beauty: more than the eye of the beholder (part 3)
In memory of Roger Scruton (1944-2020) Changes in the apperception of the beautiful across historical time and the very individuality of the experience of beauty, have led to a false doctrine of the relativity of beauty. In fact, the history of the development of knowledge supports an alternative view, that the variability across time and… Continue reading Beauty: more than the eye of the beholder (part 3)
In Politics, Who Gets to Define Progress?
It had been some months since the prophet Zarathustra had last visited the village. When he arrived in the central square he was surprised to find it deserted. Hailing a small boy who was passing by, he asked where the occupants were. “Don’t you know it is election time?” was the reply. The prophet was… Continue reading In Politics, Who Gets to Define Progress?
The Political Logic of the Excluded Middle
For several years the received opinion is that the middle ground of politics has been abandoned here in the UK, in America and in much of Europe. There is, indeed, a superficial plausibility to this assertion, evidenced by the intemperate language of much of political debate. However, I believe that the underlying reality is quite… Continue reading The Political Logic of the Excluded Middle
What actually is ‘Community’?
Almost no pundit, politician or purveyor of good causes can today make their case without extolling its benefits for ‘the community’ or miscellaneous ‘communities’. The importance of community has become a touchstone of contemporary thinking, on both the political left and the right. It might be thought that what socialists and conservatives mean by community… Continue reading What actually is ‘Community’?