Explaining Postmodernism‘s individual chapters were first posted serially, followed by the full audiobook. A playlist of the individual chapters is also available at YouTube. Information about other editions and translations is available at this dedicated page.
Full audiobook of *Explaining Postmodernism* Read More »
In December 2016, Mark Michael Lewis interviewed me on a variety of topics, including the pronoun wars. At that point, Professor Jordan Peterson had recently taken a strong public stand against being required to use some newly proposed pronouns, and that refusal had generated controversy. Here is my four-minute opinion (from 36:06 to 40:21 in
Jordan Peterson and the Pronoun Wars Read More »
Some questions: Has religion helped or hindered the development of modern free societies? Did the Protestant work-ethic make capitalism? Do Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox explain why the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) have been among the most economically-troubled European nations? Is the economic backwardness of much of the Middle East due to Islam?
Religion and capitalism? Alvaro Vargas Llosa Read More »
In PDF format: Ethics (PHIL 122) and Business and Economic Ethics (PHIL 325). I’m also happy that we will have seven guest speakers this semester, sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship. We will learn from two economists, three philosophers who specialize in ethics, and two executive-entrepreneurs: * Jennifer Dirmeyer, Assistant Professor of Economics,
Course Syllabi, Spring Semester 2018 Read More »
[This lecture is Part 3 of the Entrepreneurship and Values series and was recorded at Rockford University and sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.] Terry Noel on Management and Entrepreneurship Hello, my name is Terry Noel. I am an Associate Professor of Management and Quantitative Methods at Illinois State University. Today, we are going to talk
Terry Noel: Management and Entrepreneurship [transcript] Read More »
At Britain’s CHURCH and STATE site, my article “Is Political Evil Built Into Religion?” has been republished. It is common in debates for atheists to cite the long history of fanaticism, torture, and war that religion has caused and for theists to respond that such evils are aberrations and that their own preferred religion, properly
“Is Political Evil Built Into Religion?” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »
Richard Rorty on the consequences of having to abandon the objectivity and universality of reason: The best we can do is seek “inter-subjective agreement” among the “members of our own tribe.” Though feeling loyal to his American left-liberal roots, Rorty goes on to hope that we will be nice to the other tribes while doing
Richard Rorty in Explaining Postmodernism Read More »
Clichés are often over-generalizations for rhetorical purposes. “History is written by the victors” is punchy, but it is too often a cynical dismissal of objectivity in history. So here is the beginnings of a list of influential history books that do not fit the cliché: * Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War (431 BCE) was
“History is written by the victors” — true? Read More »
In 1770, tensions were high between the American colonists and their British rulers. Anxious soldiers confronting an angry mob precipitated the Boston Massacre. Eight soldiers were then put on trial for murder. The lawyer John Adams was a strong American patriot, yet he took on the defense of the British soldiers. His purpose was explicitly
Revolutionary justice: French versus American style Read More »
My “No Reformation for Islam, Please” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “Islam needs reforming but definitely not a Reformation. “The history matters here, so consider first what the Reformation activists were fighting against. During the Renaissance, the dominant Catholic religion had become worldly. Its thinkers read the naturalistic Greeks and Romans
“No Reformation for Islam, Please” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »