James Fitzjames Stephen is not a well-known name these days. He was a 19th century English judge and author of a decent sized body of work. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity was his magnum opus, and chapter 4 of that remarkably little known book has much to say about the state of political discussion in the early 21st century. In a recent discussion of Mill’s On Liberty, I had occasion to note the mixed effects Mill’s argument is having on college campuses these days. On the one hand, … [Read more...] about Too Much Talk About Liberty?
Modern Society
The Pleasures of Noir
Today’s theme: Noir. And therein lies a puzzle. What exactly is Noir? Start with Woolrich’s I Married a Dead Man, which is included in the Library of America’s volume: Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930’s and 1940’s. If it is in a volume like that, it must be Noir. Then consider the Loeb/Sale collaborations: Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory. The preface to the first volume says that the book was born when an editor met with Loeb and said, “I always … [Read more...] about The Pleasures of Noir
The Rise and Decline of John Stuart Mill
Free speech is under assault these days. You know that. You don’t need more examples of what is happening on college campuses. Even the idea of discussing free speech is under assault. It would seem to be a good time to read (or reread) John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty. First though, we have to overcome the idea that even talking about whether free speech is a good idea is permissible. You see, if you are going to seriously talk about free speech, then you can’t just talk about … [Read more...] about The Rise and Decline of John Stuart Mill
Science Says…
“Science says…” That is one of those sentence starters which is designed to end discussion. If Science says something, then it is obviously True. Indeed, even those people who routinely deny the existence of Truth are perfectly happy asserting that if Science has said something, then even though there is no Truth, well…that doesn’t include Science because Science is True. Scientists are the Priests of the world without God. Carlo Rovelli, a theoretical physicist, has written a few books … [Read more...] about Science Says…
Make the Holy Roman Empire Great Again
For the last year, Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen has been one of those books of the moment in conservative intellectual circles. (No, conservative intellectual is not an oxymoron. I know you thought that. The joke was already old in the 1960s.) The first thing to note about the book’s title is that the Liberalism that Failed is not that found in the Democratic Party. This is not a Republican tirade against Democrats. The Liberalism here is the old use of the term, the liberalism … [Read more...] about Make the Holy Roman Empire Great Again
Tartuffe, Kanye, and Saul of Tarsus
Consider Tartuffe, Moliere’s play about a scoundrel who pretends to be a pious man in order to convince a wealthy dupe to hand over all his wealth. The play is funny, which you knew became Moliere wrote it. It raises some interesting questions about what it means to be dishonest. If I act better than I am, does that mean I am dishonest? Suppose I am a terrible person, but in public, I act like a good person. Is that bad? Hard to say Yes to that. We read this in one of my reading groups. … [Read more...] about Tartuffe, Kanye, and Saul of Tarsus