A Review of Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks
Introduction It might seem unusual to review a book that was originally published in 2004. But Explaining Postmodernism has enjoyed a recent resurgence of popularity. Jordan Peterson has praised the…
Stop Stigmatizing Cultural Appropriation
Cultural appropriation. The term alone leaves many people primed for offense. Unfortunately, as a tool for policing behavior, the concept makes little sense. It implies that extant cultural differences are…
Excuse Me, You Appear to Have a Broken Moral Compass
Helen Dale will be speaking at the Battle of Ideas on “Cultural Appropriation in Literature: Whose voice is it anyway?” on Sunday 14th October Sunday 7 October was the 1-year…
What is the Point of Feminism Today?
Jan MacVarish will be speaking at the Battle of Ideas on the question, “The F Word: What is the Point of Feminism Today” on Saturday, the 13th of October. Last …
Publish or Perish: Is Milton’s Paradise Lost on Academia?
Steve Fuller will be speaking at the Battle of Ideas on “Publish or Perish: The Crisis of Research Today” on Sunday, 14th October. In the original modern defence of free…
Why The Battle of Ideas 2018?
In a rapidly changing world, debating ideas matters more than ever. Fifty years on from the protests and turmoil of 1968, today’s turbulent times are at least a match for…
The Weaponization of Political Language
This is an article in anticipation of the Battle of Ideas 2018, with which Areo is proud to partner to bring politically and ideologically diverse viewpoints together for constructive debate. Dolan…
The Kavanaugh Litmus Test
The Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh was always going to be contentious, given the current political atmosphere. Nevertheless, this has turned out to be one of those rare cases…
Why Are We Still Talking About Abortion?
In 2014, Stephen Merchant raised a difficult question on Real Time with Bill Maher. “We [probably meaning the British] have more or less figured out the big issues,” he said.…
Why Can’t We Hate Children?
Scotty Masterson of Cedar Point, Ohio stole over fifty dollars worth of Hot Wheels and Star Wars toys from his local Wal-Mart. To make matters worse: when he was finally caught,…
HIV Medication Price Gouging and Health Care Inequality in the United States
Tina Rosenberg recently published a rather damning article in the New York Times, detailing the outrageous costs associated with the provision of HIV medications in the US. According to Rosenberg, HIV…
Areopagitica for Millennials
A few weeks ago, I went to the Chiltern village of Chalfont St Giles to visit a building that looks like something an illustrator would produce in a children’s encyclopedia…
Race, Culture and the Dynamics of Prejudice
Racism is looked upon as the defining sin of the West. Tribal warfare has stained human history and the conflicts between clans and nations have catalyzed the shifting boundaries of…
The Fundamental Sense: Why Enlightenment Values Belong to Everyone
There’s something terribly wrong with how we talk about liberalism. By liberalism, I mean both the political idea—that individual liberty and human rights are paramount—and the historical movement— that expanded…
The World Isn’t Entering a New Age of Nationalism
In his 1981 book, The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress, Peter Singer argues that our sense of moral responsibility has steadily grown to encompass larger and larger groups…
The Ideological Reflex and the Culture of Reason
Plato’s Socratic dialogues—in which Socrates questions and argues with a variety of interlocutors who claim to know the nature of such things as justice and virtue—are known for their exhortation…
How to Escape the Partisan Mindset and Why You’ll Probably Fail
Introduction Our progressively polarized political climate, combined with the growth of various social media platforms, has led to an increasing consensus that the culture is devolving into distinct political echo-chambers…
How Philosophy Can Reduce Your Confirmation Bias
Early in my career as a professor, I recognized confirmation bias in my students. In her evaluation of reincarnation in Buddhism, for example, one student wrote that she found it…
