Category Archives: Language
Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation
Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation* argues that modern western society (and particularly American society) is moving from a relatively literate print-based culture to a post-literate technology culture. Bauerlein’s specific focus is on the new realm of social technologies (“e-mails, text messages, blog-postings and comments, phone calls, tweets, feeds, photos and songs” (p. x)) that he […]
Leaving out certain details
The trouble with truth and journalism is not that the media regularly publishes falsities. It’s that it usually omits important information or emphasizes certain facts over others. Here’s an example: On August 17, 2009, the Vancouver Sun publishes an article with the headline, “Liberals funded by business, NDP by unions“. On the face of it, […]
Notes and commentary on Chantal Mouffe’s “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?”
Mouffe, Chantal. “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?” Social Research 66.3 (Fall 1999): 745-758. ———————- Chantal Mouffe’s article discusses two competing methods of envisioning an extensive (and thus radical) democracy. She confronts the theorists of “deliberative democracy”, particularly Jurgen Habermas, but also summarizes her own epistemological position of “agonistic pluralism”. Her article is clear and succinct, […]
Notes and commentary on “No Contest? Assessing the Agonistic Critiques of Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere”
Notes and commentary on: Brady, John. “No Contest? Assessing the Agonistic Critiques of Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere.” Philosophy & Social Criticism 30.3 (2004): 331-354. ———————- John Brady’s article, “No Contest? Assessing the Agonistic Critiques of Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of the Public Sphere”, is a defence of Jurgen Habermas’ theory of deliberative democracy. […]
Some thoughts on Barbara Herrnstein Smith’s Contingencies of Value
The sceptic still continues to reason and believe, even tho’ he asserts that he cannot defend his reason by reason. (David Hume) One of the best accounts of post-modern epistemology that I’ve read comes from Barbara Herrnstein Smith’s Contingencies of Value*. She provides a plausible and thorough explanation of what a “post-axiological” epistemology would look […]
Language Reveals Power
I’ve always been a fan of George Carlin. He was one of the first mainstream comedians to use humour against power, and there aren’t many comedians who have forced the US Supreme Court to consider laws on speech and obscenity. He was, in my mind, the great link from Lenny Bruce to present-day commentators like […]
If you think government is bad, think of the alternative!
One of the first points I make to my political science classes is the necessity of government. I remind my students that the alternative – a society without rules, a legitimate government or the rule of law – would be much worse. I often point to Somalia, a country in name only. In reality, it’s […]