One need not always write with broad appeal in mind, but any Canadian will know how limiting it can be to speak of problems that seem particular to the northernmost reaches of the Americas. Still, as a student of Canadian political institutions and history, I cannot help but feel the task of clarifying our ownContinue reading “Ridings & Parties”
Tag Archives: SocComm
Disposed to Conserve
For Geoff In a culture so deeply saturated with governmental idioms and ideological jargon, we have lamentably allowed a term of great importance to fall into disrepair in our discourse and thought: conservative. This word surely has salient meanings that are well outside the realm of governance and party ideology, though—in my experience—people tend toContinue reading “Disposed to Conserve”
Out of the Mouths of Babes
For A. J. S. In his Confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo articulates his well-known though questionable understanding of babies: he attributes to them a sinfulness and malice that has caused many readers to accuse the African Bishop of lacking compassion and sensitivity for human infancy. A friend of mine has, however, tried to persuade meContinue reading “Out of the Mouths of Babes”
Friendship and Its Contexts
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the nature of friendship and its profound (and perhaps near primary) importance in a fulfilling human life. This claim in itself could and has been the subject of much discourse, but his development of this topic provides many other ideas that are worth pursuing in their own right. OneContinue reading “Friendship and Its Contexts”
Social Statistics & Moral Inferences
Last week, I wrote about the problem of understanding what the social sciences provide. My intention was to theorize the thinking involved in social science research and reflect on what this means for its outputs. While somewhat critical, my overall position is not that the social sciences are vapid but merely misunderstood – people misinterpretContinue reading “Social Statistics & Moral Inferences”
A Late Review of Life After God
Writing a book review for a rather obscure little book that was published thirty years ago may seem an odd pursuit, but such might be justified when circumstances give rise to fresh relevance in a given work. In the case of Douglas Coupland’s Life After God, published in 1994, I think this is a bookContinue reading “A Late Review of Life After God“
Hoping for Clarity 