In the 2018 compendium "Encountering China", renowned philosopher Michael Sandel makes the following observation about learning from Chinese philosophy: Engaging with responses to my work by scholars of Chinese philosophy is for me a learning opportunity on several levels. It requires me to consider challenges to my views from unfamiliar directions, it brings to light … Continue reading Michael Sandel on East-West Philosophical Encounters
The Heterozygote Advantage and the Crisis of Western Authority
I. There is a concept in biology known as Heterozygote Advantage. If you're already familiar with this concept, feel free to skip to section II. As one may know, sexually reproducing organisms inherit two copies of each gene: one from the mother, one from the father. Sometimes having two identical copies doesn't mean much. Sometimes … Continue reading The Heterozygote Advantage and the Crisis of Western Authority
Vespertine Dreams
The Bible begins in the Garden of Eden, and from the story of the Fall issues the most influential sociophilosphical work in human history. Plato famously invented the continent of Atlantis to demonstrate his ideas. Thomas Moore had his Utopia. Philosophers throughout the ages have invented States of Nature, various Paradises, their fictional worlds in … Continue reading Vespertine Dreams
"The people in the world that considers culture the fourth branch of government weren’t confused. Bush forgot to nation-build an entire branch of government." - https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/12/19/refactoring-culture-as-branch-of-government/
My Thesis: Technocracy, Democracy, and Legitimacy in EU GMO Regulation
https://hdl.handle.net/11244/316309 As a result of several food and chemical-related public health scares as well as strong activism by environmental organization such as Greenpeace, longstanding majorities of European Union (EU) citizens support restrictions on the authorization and use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for human and animal consumption in the EU. Given the EU’s ongoing Democratic … Continue reading My Thesis: Technocracy, Democracy, and Legitimacy in EU GMO Regulation
Amusing and Interesting Links
Ancient Romans loved their dogs as much as we moderns do: https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html The most effective weapon on the modern battlefield is...concrete? https://mwi.usma.edu/effective-weapon-modern-battlefield-concrete/
Privilege is Contextual
I was recently listening to The Ezra Klein Show episode featuring Jonathan Haidt: https://app.stitcher.com/splayer/f/82658/57404323 Throughout the conversation is the idea that modern outrage culture is heavily centered on liberal and elite college campuses, and often discusses questions of privilege and sociocultural aggressions. This provoked a thought from me: no one at elite liberal universities is … Continue reading Privilege is Contextual
On Privilege
For the good of the progressive movement, for the good or racial harmony in this country, I implore a change of tone regarding the nature of Privilege. Privilege is the term for any innate advantages that one person might have over another. Privilege can manifest itself in terms of sex, race, parental income, place of … Continue reading On Privilege
Democracy versus Science
This is an ongoing topic of mine (I'm just now finishing my thesis on this very topic), but because this is the latest news, I thought I would share: Italy's new populist government just fired the entire national medical panel because of their pro-vaccine views. Vaccines are just one front in a brewing war that … Continue reading Democracy versus Science
We are (probably) all Modernists
I was asked recently to respond to an angsty college freshman who laid out a fairly textbook understanding of postmodern moral relativism: People define values in their own ways…humans define good and evil…for those who disagree with the majority opinions of society, society is hell…If we want to define a massacre as morally okay, nothing … Continue reading We are (probably) all Modernists
