Philosophy

Jack Shafer of Slate has written a superb article on the notion of “loophole” titled “Shut Your Loophole.”(Thanks to Brad Malestein for bringing this piece to my attention.) Here’s an excerpt: Upon entering the English language in the late 16th century, the word loophole defined the narrow opening in a…

"Cut off the head of Salman Rushdie!" chanted a crowd of Islamists in Pakistan yesterday as calls to murder the “blasphemer” were renewed following his knighthood in Britain. Such barbarism is to be expected from religionists—not just from Muslims, but from any religionists who are neither restrained by a rights-respecting…

Last night, TOS contributor Dr. John Lewis delivered his speech “‘No Substitute for Victory’: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism” to a packed auditorium at George Mason University. Despite a coordinated effort by GMU’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to disrupt the event, Dr. Lewis argued logically and persuasively that…

Surveys the ancient Greek conception of justice and shows how this relatively healthy idea is later twisted into utter malignancy by Christianity.

To the Editor: Various TOS articles by Dr. John Lewis have helped me identify the essential nature of the current "War on Terrorism." One shouldn't be surprised that an entity's actions follow from the entity's nature. As a political entity, the USA is a welfare state. It is taking various…

Regarding my article "No Substitute for Victory": The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism in The Objective Standard, readers have brought up several questions that I'd like to answer. Among them are two of great importance: (1) Isn't the enemy stateless, i.e., without the kind of centralized political state that controlled Japan?…

Examines the misconceptions of self-esteem that are widely accepted and propagated by educators and psychologists today, illustrates the philosophical causes of those misconceptions in modern philosophy, and presents the correct view of self-esteem along with its philosophical roots in rational philosophy.

Consults historical precedent to evaluate America’s response to the attacks of 9/11. Considering key historical attacks against America, along with her responses to those attacks, Lewis highlights the moral and practical issues involved, and draws vital lessons that Americans must grasp and apply in the current war—if we want to win it.

Critiques Rodney Stark’s best-selling book The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Bernstein’s analysis proves Stark’s thesis to be historically false and philosophically impossible. The fundamental factor that led to freedom, capitalism, and Western success, Bernstein shows, was not the Christian, scripture-based approach of applying “reason” to the goal of understanding “super-nature,” but rather the Aristotelian, observation-based method of applying reason to the goal of understanding actual nature.

[Since this post is coming in right on top of Dr. Lewis's excellent comments on the subject, I'm writing this note to bring continued attention to his post, which is a must read.] For whom should one vote in the coming election? What is the principal factor one should consider…