An Ode To The Ghost Rider: Neil Peart’s Journey Reaches An End
We are strangers to each other Full of sliding panels An illusion show Acting well-rehearsed routines Or playing from the heart? It’s hard for one to know We are islands…
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India’s Descent into Authoritarianism
Democratic breakdown doesn’t need a blueprint. It can be the result of a sequence of unanticipated events—an escalating tit-for-tat between a demagogic, norm-breaking leader and a threatened political establishment. The…
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Raising an Athenian
What can we learn about child-rearing from the ancient Greeks and Spartans? I teach seventh grade ancient civilizations and one of our most popular topics is ancient Greece. The students…
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In Defence of Ideology
The term ideological is often slung about as if it were an insult. It typically implies that a person is set in her ways, or dogmatic. It also implies that…
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Jordan Peterson Is Not Entirely Wrong about “Postmodern Neo-Marxism”
One of the core progressive criticisms of Jordan Peterson is that Peterson is wrong to claim that the rise of reactionary political forces is a manifestation of cultural resistance to…
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In Praise of Proportionality: How the Courts Will Save Us From the Wackiest of the Woke
Human rights have, for many decades now, been a central concept in cultures that embrace the idea of the sovereign individual. When the individual is understood as ensconced within a…
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Is France Charlie?
France has been a crucible of radical philosophy since the eighteenth century, and was the pre-eminent centre for the arts in the nineteenth and twentieth. It was France to which…
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Moralism, Public and Private
We are all moralists at heart. We constantly make judgments about our family, friends and even strangers. We may profess that such judgments are merely matters of taste—but there is…
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Critical Thinking is Nothing Without Knowledge
Among high school students, I’ve seen puzzled looks in response to the mention of Adolf Hitler, segregation, Thomas Jefferson, the Cold War, Aristotle and the Bill of Rights—among other things.…
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Impossible Conversations: An Invitation
The illusion of unity isn’t worth having.—Christopher Hitchens Note: We’re currently holding an Impossible Conversations competition at Letter. This article will explain why and give examples of conversations that epitomise…
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A Peculiar Phenomenon: Review of “The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism” by Matthew McManus
Most of us were utterly unprepared for those astonishing events of 2016: Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Why…
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Citational Justice and the Growth of Knowledge
The purpose of research is to grow our knowledge of the world: whether the focus is quarks, ancient Chinese texts or the income trajectories of US immigrants. This focus on…
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The Left is Having an Identity Crisis
The Left is in crisis. We no longer present a cohesive movement, and we no longer form coherent political parties. We are a fractured and ill-defined mess, our goals are…
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Three Bipartisan Policies that Reduce Polarization
The increasing rhetoric about polarization in US politics is misleading at best and prevents Americans finding common cause in unexpected places. During both the current and previous presidential primaries, the…
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How Should We Understand Nihilism?
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way…
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Some Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens
“Ladies and gentlemen. Brothers and sisters. Comrades. Friends. Thanks for coming out.” Thus began Christopher Hitchens, as was his custom, speaking from behind a lectern facing a standing-room-only audience. They…
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Ouroboros: The Return of Moral Guardian Puritanism
The social media network Gab and its CEO Andrew Torba are divisive to say the least. Gab is seen as a free speech alternative to giants like Twitter by some,…
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How Individualism and Social Constructivism Can Be Reconciled: Part 2
In part 1 of this essay, I explain the difference between the Cartesian subject and Heidegger’s Dasein. Descartes was primarily concerned with skeptical doubts about the state of knowledge accessible…
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