Tag Archives: ten commandments

Richard Rorty on Making Ethical Choices in a Godless Universe

I think that Richard Rorty is right about this, but it’s a bit jarring to read it stated so directly and matter-of-factly. The quote comes from Rorty’s essay, “Kant vs. Dewey” (in the last collection of his papers, Philosophy as Cultural … Continue reading

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George Orwell Watch: Far Rightists Decide That They’re the True Inheritors of the 60s Left!

Crazy. Way out. Orwellian. Politico reports today on the evidence that the Far Right is self-consciously appropriating the slogans, artistic styles, and general political tactics of the 1960s Left! Obviously, conservatives perceive (correctly) that Americans are, in general, so unevenly educated, and so confused about history … Continue reading

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Why Are There TEN COMMANDMENTS (and Not, Say, Fifteen)?

Mel Brooks has a theory:

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Do Scientists Need the Ten Commandments?

Where do the ethical sensibilities and VALUES of scientists, in doing their work, come from? In other words, why do scientists (for example) value such things as VIGOROUS DEBATE and SEEKING OUT CONTRARY LINES OF EVIDENCE? In a science essay in the NY Times … Continue reading

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Literature Major or Prophet to the One True God?: Gilgamesh, Akhenaten, Moses, and Mohammad

The Epic of Gilgamesh opens with this sentence: I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. I hear in this opening an evangelical purpose, as when the gospel of Mark begins with, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus … Continue reading

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