Areo
Free Expression. Humanism. Culture. Politics. Human Rights. Science. [email protected] Published, Edited by . Founded by .
Last synced from Twitter 1003d ago
An Ode To The Ghost Rider: Neil Peart’s Journey Reaches An End
Areo 15h 1 tweets
We are strangers to each other Full of sliding panels An illusion show Acting well-rehearsed routines Or playing from the heart? It’s hard for one to know We are islands to each other Buildin…
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Areo "An Ode To The Ghost Rider: Neil Peart’s Journey Reaches An End" by Joshua Farden () 15h
In Defence of Ideology
Areo 10d 1 tweets
The term ideological is often slung about as if it were an insult. It typically implies that a person is set in her ways, or dogmatic. It also implies that those who don’t possess an ideology are f…
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Areo "We shouldn’t worry about whether some set of ideas is widely considered an ideology or not. What matters is the accuracy of our understanding of the world" - 10d
Jordan Peterson Is Not Entirely Wrong about “Postmodern Neo-Marxism”
Areo 11d 4 tweets
One of the core progressive criticisms of Jordan Peterson is that Peterson is wrong to claim that the rise of reactionary political forces is a manifestation of cultural resistance to the deep and …
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Areo "[W]hile Peterson may not understand the important distinctions between Marxism and postmodern philosophy, he is not as widely off the mark as some progressives claim" argues 11d
In Praise of Proportionality: How the Courts Will Save Us From the Wackiest of the Woke
Areo 12d 3 tweets
Human rights have, for many decades now, been a central concept in cultures that embrace the idea of the sovereign individual. When the individual is understood as ensconced within a sphere of libe…
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Areo "The compromise inherent within proportionality has recently fallen out of favour. Alternative concepts, such as diversity, inclusivity, intersectionality and affirming people’s identities, are in the ascendant" - 12d
Is France Charlie?
Areo 13d 2 tweets
France has been a crucible of radical philosophy since the eighteenth century, and was the pre-eminent centre for the arts in the nineteenth and twentieth. It was France to which writers like James…
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Areo "Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Many French citizens will assemble to express that they are toujours (still) Charlie. And no doubt they are. But..." - RJ. Smith () 13d
Moralism, Public and Private
Areo 14d 1 tweets
We are all moralists at heart. We constantly make judgments about our family, friends and even strangers. We may profess that such judgments are merely matters of taste—but there is almost always a…
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Areo "The liberal separation between private and public spheres is an attempt to allow individuals in diverse societies to be moralists, while maintaining relative social peace"- 14d
Ouroboros: The Return of Moral Guardian Puritanism
Areo 17d 1 tweets
The social media network Gab and its CEO Andrew Torba are divisive to say the least. Gab is seen as a free speech alternative to giants like Twitter by some, and as a haven for far-right anti-Semit…
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Areo "These self-appointed crusaders seem to have little time for women’s rights, tolerance of other views or, ironically, traditional aspects of American civic culture, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" - Carlos Miguel del Callar. 17d
Impossible Conversations: An Invitation
Areo 29d 5 tweets
The illusion of unity isn’t worth having.—Christopher Hitchens Note: We’re currently holding an Impossible Conversations competition at Letter. This article will explain why and give examples of co…
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Areo Have you entered the "Impossible Conversations" competition yet? discusses some of her most productive conversations and encourages people to join in. 29d
A Peculiar Phenomenon: Review of “The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism” by Matthew McManus
Areo 31d 3 tweets
Most of us were utterly unprepared for those astonishing events of 2016: Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Why didn’t we …
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Areo "McManus identifies three main sources of identity fragmentation: secularisation, liberalism and the effects of markets." A review of 's new book by 31d
Citational Justice and the Growth of Knowledge
Areo 32d 6 tweets
The purpose of research is to grow our knowledge of the world: whether the focus is quarks, ancient Chinese texts or the income trajectories of US immigrants. This focus on knowledge means that sch…
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Areo "People who understand how citations are used tend to take for granted that citing someone’s work isn’t like writing a personal reference for her, and that citations aren’t meant to model any sort of ideal demographic balance." But is this under threat? 32d
The Left is Having an Identity Crisis
Areo 33d 9 tweets
The Left is in crisis. We no longer present a cohesive movement, and we no longer form coherent political parties. We are a fractured and ill-defined mess, our goals are diffuse and scattered, and …
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Areo "The Left is in crisis. We no longer present a cohesive movement, and we no longer form coherent political parties" - & 33d
Three Bipartisan Policies that Reduce Polarization
Areo 33d 1 tweets
The increasing rhetoric about polarization in US politics is misleading at best and prevents Americans finding common cause in unexpected places. During both the current and previous presidential p…
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Areo "Pragmatism need not mean selling out or even moderating one’s principles, merely understanding where the new opportunities for popular policy prescriptions lie" argues Alex Manzoor. 33d
Some Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens
Areo 36d 4 tweets
“Ladies and gentlemen. Brothers and sisters. Comrades. Friends. Thanks for coming out.” Thus began Christopher Hitchens, as was his custom, speaking from behind a lectern facing a stand…
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Areo It is eight years since we lost Christopher Hitchens. Jonathan Rash () remembers him. 36d
Antisemitism and Black Nationalism
Areo 39d 4 tweets
One of the artefacts resulting from the rise of the smartphone and social media is the phenomenon of abusive racists caught on camera. One such episode took place recently on the London Underground…
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Areo "The strange ideas he mentioned were not his own warped inventions, but myths with deep roots in American black nationalist ideology. As a Jewish Londoner with a broad, racially mixed social circle, I have encountered these ideas frequently"- 39d
Threats to Free Speech at University, and How to Deal with Them—Part 1
Areo 41d 7 tweets
Free speech is arguably the most important value for universities to uphold. As Steven Pinker points out in an essay aptly tilted “Why Free Speech is Fundamental,” “the very thing we&#8…
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Areo Noah Carl () painstakingly sets out six major threats to free speech in universities. Next week, he will suggest some proposals to address them. 41d
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Areo It follows on from this piece which looks at the different kinds of threat to free speech that currently exist. 34d
Come on B_by, Light My Fire: Challenges to Critical Thinking in Higher Education
Areo 42d 3 tweets
As a university professor, I have many responsibilities to my students, but teaching critical thinking is by far the most important. However, recent social trends in higher education have made teac…
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Areo "One can only hope that, not too many years from now, we will look back on this period as one of the most bizarre, counterproductive and unapologetically tribal in the history of higher education" - Maximilian Werner () 42d
How Individualism and Social Constructivism Can Be Reconciled: Part 1
Areo 45d 2 tweets
In a recent exchange of letters on the platform Letter (more on which here), Matthew McManus and I explored the topic of inequality, with a focus on leftist critique. The discussion included an in-…
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Areo 'In this and a follow-up essay, I distinguish between Heideggerian and Cartesian conceptions of individualism, in order to show that liberal individualism and identity politics can be reconciled" - 45d
An Economic Theory of Whiteness
Areo 55d 4 tweets
Section 1: How White Fragility Theory Frames the Problem of Racism The theory of white fragility sees white people as living in a bubble that insulates them from “race-based stress,” shielding them…
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Areo "White fragility theory functions as a transaction cost, which sabotages progress in the conversation about racial justice." applies an economic framework to the function of "whiteness" studies in this long read. 55d
Want to Fix Public Schools? Fix the Public First.
Areo 62d 1 tweets
Prelude: Public Schools are the Public’s Schools Americans have complained about public schools for as long as America has had them. Depending on who you talk to, they’re either too hidebound or to…
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Areo A long and highly detailed read by Dave Ferrero () of particular interest to educators. 62d
What Happens When Meaning Goes Away: A Review of Yuval Noah Harari’s “Homo Deus”
Areo 66d 1 tweets
Humanity has made tremendous strides in reining in plague, famine and war in recent decades. Take just one example: poverty. Since 1990, on average, with each passing day, there are 130,000 fewer p…
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Areo "For decades,humanity’s primary goal has been to increase people’s happiness. So far, we've accomplished this by minimizing the amount of unhappiness. When all potential sources of unhappiness are gone, how will we enhance our happiness?" 66d