thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb A reader writes:
… More ...I just graduated from Haverford College, a liberal Quaker school outside of Philadelphia. A few years ago, two students dressed as black pop-stars went to a Halloween party wearing brown face paint. They were punished, pretty much for hate speech, on the grounds that even though they didn’t intend to offend people,
Here’s a talk I gave on June 2, 2007 as a member of a panel at the annual meeting of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters (a new organization for conservative scholars):
… More ...We’ve all been talking today about where we are and what to do about it. I’ve been asked to sketch those issues with
Which will win: the American tendency to make free speech absolute, or the globalization of human rights and the tendency to make tolerance and inclusiveness greater absolutes? I’ve thought the latter will win, and we’ll end up with the anti-“hate” censorship you find in Canada and Europe. A recent case seems to point that way. … More ...
Since I just complained about the mindlessness of present-day discussions of immigration and related issues, I suppose I should set forth a few points that should be added to the mix to improve rationality:
Linda Chavez, who makes her living as a conservative female Hispanic, has a column at Townhall that should really be read several times in full. A summary and selected quotes don’t do it justice. In brief, though, her point—which she puts quite bluntly—is that the fuss over amnesty for illegal aliens is simply noise … More ...
It’s hard not to be pleased by reports that weekday newspaper circulation is falling around 5% a year, and music CD sales plunged more than 20% in the last year alone. Broadband net access is killing the established media, with no end in sight. Who needs the newspaper or music industries when better and … More ...
It’s hard for someone who knows practically zero about the ecology of academic theology to say anything very definite about the recent demand by German theologians for ‘intelligent restructuring’ of the Vatican’s doctrinal office. Still, a theologian should admit it’s OK to talk about things that go far beyond our actual knowledge, and we all … More ...
A recent development in Britain suggests one side of “human rights” in today’s world: Home Secretary threatens to suspend human rights laws after terror suspects go missing.
“Control orders” in Britain restrict movements and contact with other people for terror suspects who cannot be brought to court. They replaced detention without trial, which was … More ...
There’s no special reason a scientist should have anything very comprehensive or profound to say about knowledge and reality, any more than a lawyer as such is likely to have deep thoughts on the nature of social order. A working professional needs an implicit theory that puts his work in a setting that enables him … More ...
A reader sends in a link to a collection of recollections of the ’50s by ordinary British people, put together (of all things) by the BBC. The recollections are mostly extremely favorable. The reader speculates
… More ...Letting these comments be posted could just be a sign of pluralist confidence. Pluralists may see themselves in a strong