The Paradox of Democracy
The entire idea of democracy is predicated on two essential assumptions, that humans will value knowledge, and humans will decide on the basis of rationality.
Sumantra Maitra
· 7 min read
Art and Culture
A collection of 721 posts
The Virtues of Inwardness: Reclaiming the Life of the Mind in a Politicized World
Perhaps our belief that the intellectual is synonymous with the political is less an eternal fact of human existence than a symptom of our own hyper-politicized times.
James Walker
· 11 min read
What I Learned In My Women’s Studies Classes
Oppression does indeed exist. But, oppression is complicated, far more complicated than can be distilled in an undergraduate academic setting.
Toni Airaksinen
· 4 min read
Daily Life's Boy-Bashing Clickbait Reaches New Low
It might just be that casual prejudice has become so commonplace that many of us don’t even notice it anymore.
Claire Lehmann
· 4 min read
What Experts Do and Don't Know
Humans around the world have knowledge about many things. Some of it is the kind one might write essays about, or learn about in graduate courses at university.
Brendon Brewer
· 7 min read
"Like" This Essay — The Case Against Social Media
Social media isn’t the cause of these crises in our culture; rather, there is a sense that it has betrayed its higher purpose.
Timothy Cootes
· 6 min read
Why Isn’t Sexual Slavery a Feminist Priority?
Their lives were destroyed, and their lives will remain destroyed if we don’t say anything. To bring back their rights, we must speak up.
Keiran Harris
· 6 min read
In Praise of Ambivalence — “Young” Feminism, Gender Identity and Free Speech
It’s about the role of ambivalence in contemporary politics, focusing on an emerging strand of feminist politics.
Brian D Earp
· 35 min read
Forget de Botton's Advice — Why Lower Expectations Won't Help Your Marriage
Marriage is casting a vote for a candidate who will help us create the kind of life we can enjoy and value.
Noam Shpancer
· 7 min read
Regaining Culture In Post-Society America
Every other great nation takes care to cultivate certain traditional values in its people.
Julian Friedland
· 7 min read
Should Governments Outlaw Bad Child Names?
Unites States is hardly the only country that regulates child naming. Some, such as Portugal, have a list of government pre-approved names, so parents can choose from the list.
Eldar Sarajlic
· 7 min read
Free Speech and Islam — In Defense of Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A woman whose life story, by any rational, humane standards, should win encomia from, and the admiration of, decent people everywhere.
Jeffrey Tayler
· 18 min read
The Josiah Effect: How Moderate Religion Fuels Fundamentalism
As it turns out, the phenomenon of a young man becoming radicalized after reading his religion’s holy book for the first time has been around for thousands of years.
Henry Rambow
· 10 min read
Forget Microaggressions, Some Students Face Hunger and Homelessness
There are many who go hungry or homeless. How can students prosper without food? Or without a safe place to sleep?
Toni Airaksinen
· 4 min read
Thiel vs Gawker: Why a Defensive Media is the Real Threat to Free Speech
Gawker Media has tormented both powerful and not so powerful people for some time now.
Claire Lehmann
· 5 min read