Archives for February, 2011
On metaphysical rights, or the Burkean conservative who denounces Burke’s conservatism
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 11, 2011 A while back, Martin Cothran (who, in keeping with long tradition here, it must be noted remains a bigot in a staggering diversity of realms, not least his apparent desire to defend a dictator’s decision to cut internet access to his nation in hopes of stymieing a revolution) declared: A person should be legally required…
Rawls
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 10, 2011 Somehow, this passage from John Rawls Political Liberalism seems relevant to Egypt, to anti-creationism, to the disputes over gnu atheism, and even to a forthcoming reply to Martin Cothran on the nature of human rights: Now the serious problem is this. A modern democratic society is characterized not simply by a pluralism of comprehensive religious,…
Against accommodationism
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 10, 2011 Scott Aikin and Robert Talisse are not accommodationists. At least, they say they aren’t, and that’s hard to evaluate, because “accommodationist” is a bad word, and to ensure that it stays a bad word, critics of accommodationists give it protean meanings. Sometimes it’s supposed to mean the belief that science and religion are compatible. Sometimes…
Ontological arguments and negative capability
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 8, 2011 Ophelia Benson doesn’t see how the ontological argument for the existence of a perfect god even begins. The ontological argument basically argues that we imagine god to be perfect, and that something that doesn’t exist can’t be perfect, thus by imagining a perfect deity, we show that such a thing must exist. Or something. I’ve…
Snert
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 8, 2011 John Pieret notes some Coyneian hubris.
Your regularly scheduled conference scheduling freakout
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 7, 2011 Jason Rosenhouse takes a level-headed look at a brewing coynetreversy (a coynetroversy, like the verb, to coyne, involves adding heat, not light, while casting maximal aspersions, ideally to create a controversy where none need exist). Jason explains the situation: Jerry Coyne and P. Z. Myers (here and here respectively) have taken note of a session…
Athletics
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 7, 2011 Hey, when’s the Superbowl this year?
Sunday in a free Egypt
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 7, 2011 For the last 13 days, Tahrir Square has been the seed of a free Egypt. Within that square, which I recall filled 7 lanes deep with honking cars even late at night, the architects of Egypt’s democratic revolution have created their own democratic nation. The protesters police themselves, maintain their own defenses at the entries…
All things bright and evolved
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 6, 2011 Evolution Made Us All from Ben Hillman on Vimeo. Totally awesome. Via BoingBoing.
Cut off Martin Cothran’s internet access
Posted by Josh Rosenau on February 6, 2011 Martin Cothran, the bigoted, anti-semite defending, Holocaust-denial whitewashing, misogynistic, homophobic, creationist, authoritarian, logic-impaired mouthpiece for the Kentucky theocracy movement wonders Is Internet access a human right?: In what sense is Internet access as a “right”? I listened to this week to an interview on NPR in which a guest–some expert on the Internet–was telling the…
Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the