The Primacy of Speculative Reason – Encore

Author's note: Here's one from the vaults. It struck me as particularly relevant now. Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. -Dr. Ian Malcolm Americans' habitual contempt for speculative reason never fails to dismay…
January 18, 201920 Comments
The Freak Amendment

The Freak Amendment

One defining feature of the American Left is their visceral hatred of the Second Amendment. Conservatives and libertarians accuse the gun-grabbers of wanting normal people left at the mercy of Big Brother. They're not wrong, but that's just a practical consideration. It doesn't fully explain the Left's rabid loathing of…
December 13, 20185 Comments
Love of Theory…

Love of Theory…

...is the root of all evil, as the otherwise quite astute Z Man demonstrates as he fails to see the epistemological corner his penchant for biological determinism paints him into. Part of what drives the persistence of bad ideas is they seem to address a need among modern people to…
December 10, 201831 Comments
Which Constitution?

Which Constitution?

A common refrain from Conservatives is their stated desire to return to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. What they never consider, and what no one ever asks, is which Constitution? Many of them claim to be constitutional originalists, but it's doubtful they'd relish going back to the original Constitution.…
September 22, 20189 Comments
The Twilight of Conservatism

The Twilight of Conservatism

The following was originally a response to a comment on yesterday's post that I thought deserved a post of its own. The current orgy of blue falconing exemplifies the convulsions you see when an established ideology slips into decline and new ideas start to supplant it. For instance, the whole…
September 5, 201815 Comments
Catholic Wonkery

Catholic Wonkery

...Culture War Edition. Wherein Catholic Wonk Dr. Taylor Marshall attempts to advise Catholics how to win the culture war by writing exactly the kind of article that's been losing Catholics the culture war. First up, there's no clearer mark of a commenter who has his finger on the pulse of…
May 25, 201841 Comments
Non serviam

Non serviam

...Is the real philosophy of the Enlightenment, as yesterday's Anonymous commenter explained (this blog's commenters have been on fire lately!): I don't comment either but I've noticed that a lot of this, including the argument with Misha, comes down to the re-definition of liberty. The Old Definition: The freedom to…
May 4, 201813 Comments
They Get It

They Get It

Reader anonme proves that wise men only speak when they have something to say in this comment on yesterday's post: I generally stay out of your essays on liberty, freedom, individuals et al, but I'll chime in briefly. I've long had a theory that you have abandoned conventional politics, instead…
May 3, 201827 Comments
I’ve Never Met an Individual

I’ve Never Met an Individual

Conservatives and Libertarians continue to volunteer evidence for my assertion that their empty posing and incoherent ideologies are standing athwart attempts to stop the Left's destruction of the West. Exhibit A: Conservative reader Nate Winchester's comments on the relative effectiveness of appeals to reason and emotion. There's two catches. The…
May 2, 201810 Comments
Individualism Is Kill

Individualism Is Kill

Having consistently pointed out that individualism is a noxious acid eating away at the social bonds, family ties, and institutions of the West, I was pleased when a Libertarian ideologue showed up in my Twitter feed to provide a wealth of colorful examples. Radical individualists' white-knuckled clinging to their self-contradictory…
May 1, 201835 Comments