Commentary archive

THE EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY TOADULTS Noel Parker Even in the least partisan formulation of its objectives, Radical Philosophy believes in a philosophy ‘relevant to people’s wider lives and interests’. Though many of us may find or hope to find guidance for radical political or social activity in the philosophy we study, the fact remains […]

posItIve suggestions I have made: but I think it symptomatic of our state that we don’t have lots of ideas – and activities going about this. Maybe not everyone in sympathy with the general idea of radical philosophy feels these needs. When talk about new modes of communicating, this must include more or less regular […]

reason for the present neglect of metaphysics, ethics and politics is the relatively exaggerated veneration accorded to logic and theory of meaning. Like Jonathan Ree, I have ungrudging admiration for modern achievements in this field’ but i~ is a.disaster ~hat so many regard it as the primary fi~ld wIth whlch the phIlosopher should concern himself. […]

Now it does seem to me that Norman does trade on this “rationalist” view in his discussion of Tolstoy. For he does say “Andrew’s ‘discovery’ is in each case”‘the acquisition of an enlarged and clearer view of human nature and of man’s relation to the world” (p.9) “The ‘way of seeing the world’ (the “religious […]

grasp Marx’s thought ‘did not succeed in the r intentions,’ above all because they ‘approached Marx ones dely,’ and deliberately ‘isolated the economist, the ph losopher, or the historian,’ etc. Of course there is an element of truth in these remarks, since all scientific work is necessari ly partial and needs to be complemented by […]

support to this non-Cartesian posItIon which one can find, for instance, in both Hegel and Wi ttgenstein – authors whom Laing has read. In Hegel’ s Phenomenology of Spirit, in the section on the dialectic of Master and Slave, the non-Cartesianism is perfectly clear: ating morally would render their children morally dependent. When Laing and […]

COMMENTARY Coming in Lesbian and gay politics in the nineties Angela Mason A s the countdown to the general election begins, there is a rising tide of expectation among lesbians and gay men in Britain. This time we can surely expect a new government to sweep away discrimination and finally give lesbians and gay men […]

2 Commentary Who are my peers? The Research Assessment Exercise in Philosophy Sean sayers British universities have just gone through their third Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The ʻresearch outputʼ (i.e. publications) of every participating department has been graded by panels of ʻexpertsʼ on a seven-point scale. The purpose of this massive operation is to provide […]

2 Commentary Beyond the Soundbites The general election in Britain Colin leys and leo panitch The 1997 general election result has rightly been celebrated as a huge relief, the lifting of a choking fog. For a while New Labour has the benefit of almost everyoneʼs doubt. There is, after all, an alternative, and people are […]

Commentaryculture clashsimon bromley Almost as soon as the Cold War framework of Western and United States foreign policy began to dissolve in the early 1990s, the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and such conservative periodicals as The National Interest and The Atlantic Monthly began to feature articles about ʻThe […]

Commentary The soul of soulless conditions? Accounting for genetic fundamentalism Joseph schwartz Twenty-five years ago, I was browsing in my university library when I came across Richard Hernnsteinʼs article ʻIQ and the Meritocracyʼ in the Atlantic Monthly. My heart sank. ʻNot that againʼ, I thought. A few days later my brother Mike rang. He insisted […]

Commentary Dearing Boring: The massification of higher education Roger harris My heart has been sinking as RPʼs deadline approached and the Dearing debate, on which I rashly agreed to write, has guttered rather than blazed. Commentaries are now plentiful and repetitive. Across the spectrum flags have long been nailed to their respective masts. Drafts I […]

Commentary Science-envy Sokal, science and the police Bruce robbins When Social Text entitled its Spring 1996 issue ʻScience Warsʼ, it fulfilled its own prophecy. Thanks to Alan Sokalʼs now famous parody article, which was published there undetected, a discursive war immediately erupted. (See ʻFriendly Fire: The Hoaxing of Social Textʼ, RP 81, pp. 54–6.) As […]

Commentary Families against ‘The Family’ The transatlantic passage of the politics of family values Judith stacey Progressive Brits beware. Political campaigns conducted in the name of The Family are now in their third decade in the United States, and there are signs that transatlantic missionaries are finding prominent converts in the UK. Indeed, addressing the […]

Commentary Dependency culture? Welfare, women and work Mary mcintosh Like many in Britain, I have watched the New Labour government with fascination. I have felt eager welcome and revulsion, hope and despairing resignation. We have seen huge progress in democracy, with hope at last for a political settlement in Northern Ireland, devolution for Wales and […]

Commentary Doing the Viagra tango Sex pill as symbol and substance Leonore tiefer A four-page full-colour advertisement for Viagra tablets has appeared in the latest issues of the American Psychologist, the flagship scientific journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). The ad shows a healthy, welldressed couple dancing and smiling into each otherʼs eyes. They […]

Commentary Via dollaro$a On the ‘Third Way’ Gregory elliott‘i have always believed that politics is first and foremost about ideasʼ, confides Tony Blair in the opening sentence of last yearʼs Fabian pamphlet The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century. In the event, as the case of ʻstakeholdingʼ indicates, the prime minister has a […]

Commentary Colonizing citizenship Françoise vergès ʻWe are not the victims but the children of a crime against humanity.ʼ [1] Commemorations are important events in France. If, on the one hand, they offer the government the opportunity to reinforce a ʻcertain idea of Franceʼ, on the other hand they give historians, researchers and activists the possibility […]

Commentary On humanitarian bombing Andrew chitty Since World War II the United States has dropped bombs on twenty-one different countries. That is an average of one new country every two years. In the last two years the rate has been higher, with first-time bombings of Afghanistan, Sudan and Yugoslavia, plus a return trip to Iraq. […]

Commentary Virtually undetectable The Andrew Sullivan phenomenon Alan sinfield Andrew Sullivan sprang into prominence in the early 1990s when he came out as a gay man while editing the right-wing American weekly magazine The New Republic. In Virtually Normal (1995) he reviewed prohibitionist, liberationist, conservative and liberal ideas about homosexuality and society.* He concluded that […]