Liberalism is an ideology—a system of thought. It has a centrepiece: the individual, defined by liberalism as a free-floating unit, separate from other units. It has two basic contradictions: The politico-moral contradiction; and The public-private contradiction. Meet Immanuel Kant: A founding liberal These contradictions arise from two factors. Liberalism: Accepts the early-modern separation between politics … Continue reading The foundational contradictions of liberalism
Tag: Freedom
A winter’s tale: The allegory of the house of freedom
We’ve walked along history’s road. We’re naked and freezing—but at least we can see with our eyes. Then, we are blindfolded, taken to another part of the road, and given a warm coat. Once, we had pain and knowledge. Now, we have pleasure and ignorance. Once, we were chattel slaves, and we were told as … Continue reading A winter’s tale: The allegory of the house of freedom
Vote Labour: My speech at the Cambridge Union
Yesterday, I gave the opening speech at the Cambridge Union for the proposition, 'This House Would Vote Labour'. Here's what I said (abridged). I hope you will join me in voting and/or campaigning for Labour in the coming UK General Election--because Labour will help everyone, not just the the billionaire class: We’ve reached the fork … Continue reading Vote Labour: My speech at the Cambridge Union
On the good: Truth, ontos, and telos
What is good? The answer I increasingly hear to this question is, 'it depends'--whether it be on cultural attitudes or on individual sentiment. But the answer mistakes the question for another one: what do people think is good? That's not the question. The question is: what is good? People sometimes go further, insisting that the … Continue reading On the good: Truth, ontos, and telos
What power is
Power, for the sociologist Max Weber, is the capacity of agent A to achieve their will despite the resistance of agent B, regardless of the basis on which this ability rests. But there are two problems with this view of power, which might suggest what an alternative theory of power might look like. In this … Continue reading What power is
What it means to be human
What does it mean to be human? There are few questions more basic but also more difficult to answer. So, let me start as all answers to hard questions must. With a story. Meet Australopithecus africanus. An early human (Creative Commons). Yesterday, I sat as countless numbers of students before me have sat. In an … Continue reading What it means to be human
