Lukacs’ Theory of Reification as an Extension of Marx’s Thought
Much American discourse on Marxism is sloppy, sometimes intentionally so. According to some of on the right, Joe Biden is a Marxist, as is the entire Democratic Party platform and even the suburban…
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Why Do Women Orgasm?
Researchers have long been fascinated by the female orgasm. It isn’t necessary for a woman to orgasm during sexual intercourse in order to become pregnant. By contrast, in men, orgasm…
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Deep Dive into the Big Five: Openness
We humans have been trying to understand ourselves for thousands of years, yet we remain as perplexed as the ancients were about the nature of consciousness. In fact, we are…
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In Defence of Argument: “Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars” by Piers Benn
In the closing pages of Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars, Piers Benn writes: I was motivated to write this book because there was something that mattered to me, that…
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What Happened to the Mental Health Crisis among Younger People?
Before Covid-19 struck, mainstream media were constantly raising the alarm about a mental health crisis among younger people. However, during this pandemic, the mantra protect the NHS has been drummed…
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Plato and Marx: Two Contrasting Visions of Humanism
There are two sorts of humanism (though the two strands are often intertwined): a humanism of constraint and moderation that talks of nature and limits; and a humanism of self-creation…
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Pragmatism, Empiricism and the Meaning of Truth
At the turn of the twentieth century, philosopher and psychologist William James arrived at a theory of truth and knowledge called radical empiricism. By contrast with the empiricism of John…
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What Can We Learn from the Trump Years?
Trump is the embodiment of American excess: pure anti-intellectualism, self-congratulation and wealth. His obsessive need to see more of himself in the world has committed him to imprinting his name…
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“Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Reni Eddo Lodge
Reni Eddo Lodge’s 2018 Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race has scooped six literary awards and received near-universal praise and Lodge has recently been voted one…
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The Response to the UK Report on Child Sexual Exploitation Is Dangerously Misleading
The Home Office’s recent paper on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation has increased distrust between the British public and the media. Some of the headlines that the report invited seemed to…
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Why the US Needs a Just Two-Tier Healthcare System
Does access to adequate and affordable healthcare require a trade-off between equality and liberty? What kind of health care system is most effective? Benjamin J. Krohmal and Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s…
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The Look of the Hunted in Today’s US High Schools
Victim. Privilege. Fragility. Lived experience. Systemic. This is just a sampling of the new woke lexicon, into which many Americans are rapidly being catechized. Underlying such supposedly empowering woke-speak…
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A Modest Defence of Postmodernism
An intellectual war in which postmodernism is both weaponized and assailed seems to have been raging for a long time. But postmodernism’s proponents and demonizers are seldom willing to engage…
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Joseph Henrich’s “The WEIRDEST People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous”
Writing from Islamic Spain in 1068, scholar Said ibn Ahmad describes the different nations of the world. Some, like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, Indians and Jews, he writes, have…
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Towards a New American Humanism
It’s easier to criticize something than it is to replace it. During the Black Lives Matter protests this past summer, it was moving to see that so many people care…
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A Blood Alcohol Guessing Game and a False Accusation of Racism
A number of years ago, I worked as a low level emergency responder. When allegations surfaced in June that ER workers across British Columbia were playing a blood alcohol level…
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The Art of I: Why Contemporary Poetry Is So Bad
Old Lady Barkeep found a mistress To comfort Hitler in his distress When all plans went to ruin. But for prestigious, high style wooin’, Disclosure to the public’s viewin’, Even…
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The Real Price of the Covid-19 Vaccine
Every year, the leaders of the G20 meet to assess the financial state of the world. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic was, unsurprisingly, a major point of discussion. Since the…
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