“And that is why I will miss Roger Scruton, enemy of my beliefs that he was.”
On Mourning for One’s Enemies: Remembering Sir Roger Scruton
Tag: Essay
Killing of Soleimani Presents Opportunities, Not Just Challenges
“…it can be argued that the challenges emanating from this sequence of events have the potential to be turned into golden opportunities to clip the Islamic regime’s wings in the Middle East and beyond.”
Enough Empathy: The Case for Punching Down
“…because heedless empathy for the worst among us is currently leading us on the downward-sloping path to mediocrity and beyond.”
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From Ayn Rand to Amartya Sen: Using the Concept of “Rights”
“Again, there seems to be no ideological bias against the concept of rights; views on the subject come from various distinct standpoints.”
Review: “The Enigma of Clarence Thomas” by Corey Robin
“Despite this, Thomas has also long acknowledged the history of racial discrimination in the United States and has never accepted the popular conservative trope that the impact of racism is merely a historical issue in the present day.“
Review: “Can the Left Learn to Meme? Adorno, Video Gaming, and Stranger Things” by Mike Watson
“Despite the majority of voters aged 18-39 resisting the smear campaigns and voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, Britain’s aging population overwhelmed the voice of its youth to take the landslide victory.”
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Why Greta Thunberg Should Go Back to School
“As a fellow person with autism, I hope to make clear why educational support—and going to school—is so essential to the lives of people with autism.”
What Sohrab Ahmari Has Failed to Sense
“Such specious reasoning is so problematic that it may well produce more of the existential instability Ahmari is keen to reject, rather than placate it.”
Can We Read Moby Dick?
“But, as I found myself stumbling in my response to my sister, a more elemental question arose: Can we read Moby Dick?”
Reflecting on the Start of a New Decade (and the Wisdom of Augustine)
“I must admit that as for many others, the last ten years were neither a singular triumph nor an unmitigated disaster. There were joys and sadnesses, the melody of life soaring high and crashing low. No one finds heaven on earth.”
The Decline of the Intellectual Dark Web
“…if one truly believes that the better argument can and should win the day, more formidable ammunition will be needed on the part of the Intellectual Dark Web.”
Pope Francis, the Consummate Politician
“From its very beginnings, Christianity has been fond of buddy tales, i.e. stories in which two great defenders of the faith become close friends.”
A Few Thoughts on Christmas
“If historical debunking is waging a ‘War on Christmas,’ then we must fire our artillery because, indeed, the story of Christmas has no historical basis whatsoever.”
When Neuroscience Interjects Itself into Debates on Sexuality
“The concept is called ‘reverse inference.’ It’s both neuroscience’s greatest ambition, and the origin of its most frustratingly breathless overstatements.”
Harold Macmillan, Roger Scruton, and Putting the U.K. Election in Context
“As Matthew Goodwin has repeatedly written, it is easier for the Conservatives to move slightly left on economic issues than it is for Labour to move right on cultural issues.” Read more