Author: Huenemann

Here is Stanley Fish’s latest blog post, in the New York Times, about “deconstructionism,” and whether it has any political consequences. He thinks it does, since (in my own words) it puts up all sorts of warning flags whenever words are used to describe the truth (while giving a free pass to words about words, or words about words about words…..).

Test yourself here.

Here is an article about a recent book on J.S. Mill, which raises interesting points about public debate.

The author of the book thinks Mill would be pleased with various bans on public smoking, which made me think about ASUSU’s recent ban on smoking on USU’s campus. What do people think about this ban? My own view — and yes, I am a pipe smoker! — is that the ban wasn’t really driven by public health concerns. To get harmed by second-hand smoke, the research says that you need to be about 18 inches from the smoker and inhale deeply for a long time. Walking past at a 10-foot distance really doesn’t harm you; sunburn should be a far greater concern. Anyway, I think the ban was lifestyle-driven: mainly, self-righteous LDS students, in conjunction with ill-informed public-health zealots, put the hurt on counter-cultural smokers. Tyranny of the majority, as Mill would say.

There have been some very interesting lists of “great 8” philosophers offered in response to Kleiner’s post — check them out! It leads me to raise a related question: what is your list of philosophers whom you think really are valuable and important but who are either unknown, or are wrongly neglected, or at any rate should be more widely read?

Here is a link to an interesting essay about the human ability to perceive and play with patterns, and the way in which it has led us to invent stories. The author contends that the art of making up stories and science are both based on the same phenomenon: that humans are born patternmakers.