“The average man’s attitude towards clear thinking is by no means merely passive, it is actively though unconsciously against clear-thinking. And the reason for this is that he dislikes most […]
Thinking for ourselves
Our ‘thought-tools’ (concepts) often need sharpening—or even replacing.
The comfort of unreason
The three types of money
“No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.” (Dr Johnson) This makes good sense—until you start to think about it. The simple truth is that money can come in […]
A sad fact about power
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton) The second half of Acton’s comment is so striking that it’s easy to overlook the first part: any power […]
Why anything? *
A question which isn’t widely posed, but needs to be dwelt on, is: how come there’s anything? Or, if you prefer: how come there’s something, rather than nothing? Really dwelt […]
The ‘Big Bang’
Once upon a time there was nothing. Then, suddenly, there was something. And it’s getting bigger … You can see why this is not an answer to the question ‘how […]
‘One of Us’ *
Margaret Thatcher, on a famous occasion, tapped an individual member in a group photo of Conservative MPs, and asked, “Is he one of us?” A vital question. Karl Marx took […]
Stardom
Fame, notoriety, reputation, honour, celebrity. Stardom. “A celebrity,” said an American academic in the 1950s, “is someone who is famous for being well-known.” I have the sense that this particular […]
The ‘obvious’ can obscure the true
“Assuming that we wish to clear up our controversies, we need to be sure that agreed criteria have been established and that these criteria are adequate to their job. This […]
The obvious winner?
I was 19 at the time. (15 when I fell under the spell of the English Hollywood star Dawn Adams—pictured from that period.) I had just got off the underground […]
The country of the blind
There is an English proverb, “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” This is glib and ‘obvious’, and prompted H G Wells to write a memorable […]