Comment is Free
Work is really hectic right now, but I will try to post a response to some of the comments on my Guardian piece next week.
posted by Dan Hind at 2:37 AM
Friday, August 24, 2007
About Me
- Name: Dan Hind
- Location: London, SW2, United Kingdom
Verso published the revised edition of my first book, The Threat to Reason, in June, 2008.
Previous Posts
- The Enemies of Reason
- Get Your (Think) Tanks Off My Lawn
- Exchange with Jonathan Derbyshire
- Chattering Classes Unite!
- More Coverage for the Book
- From SW3 to the SWP
- Third Review for The Threat to Reason
- Adventures Online
- The Pitfalls of Eloquence
- This Thing of Theirs
46 Comments:
Looking forward to that response. I haven't read your book yet (still in the mail although I wanted to wait for the reprint) but most of my liberal friends have been riding the Dawkins, Hitchens wave this summer and I'm trying to respond to them.
The problem with your article on Dawkins is that he is slightly different from Harris and Hitchens. With Harris and Hitchens you can clearly see that their attack on religion is also a cover for an attack on "radical" [sic; reactionary] Islam. Dawkins always focuses on Christianity, so it makes it a tad more difficult to recognise it as Corporate 'infotainment'.
Could I just toss out Terry Eagleton's review from the toolbox of rebuttals? His assertion that Dawkins is out of his depth because he is not familiar with Aquinas et al is ludicrous and elitist. It's like saying that I can't argue against Capitalism because I don't have a Phd in Economics (I'm borrowing from your Indymedia talk here) even though I attacking the fundamentals like the view that man is a purely self-interested animal...
I digress here but the best book (unintentionally, I think) that does the interrogation of the religious liberal is Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, an investigation of the Mormon Church. He tells the truth but treats them with respect and if Dawkins or Harris wrote like this they would be a lot more palatable.
A big problem with Dawkins et al is that they assume too much about what the rank and file think. Yes there is a hardcore minority but the truth is that most never pay attention. I've spoken with a few people who do organizing work and they often insist that they lay persons have no idea what the leaders have been getting up to. Most just don't pay attention, which is no different from the seculars who pay little attention to what their government is doing in their name. This bias against the congregation goes way back; Montaillou : The Promised Land of Error by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie gives a more realistic view of peasants in the Middle Ages.
The flip side is that Dawkins doesn't realise how cynical the church leaders are. Sure we have the long list of sex and corruption scandals. But I don't see these religion bashers paying attention to David Kuo's Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. Bush attacks abortion etc because it increases the government power. Bush doesn't help the poor because it would reduce the power of the wealthy. The manipulation is obvious.
It's probably much more fun to debate Dawkins on science. First, in The Logic of Real Arguments 2nd edition, Alec Fisher shows that for all Dawkins' claims to be defending reason his rhetoric is largely illogical. It's quite amusing to see Dawkins ripped apart.
Then there is Dawkin's baby, the 'Scientific Method' itself. Anyone familiar with the philosophy of science will know that the 'Scientific Method' isn't all it's cracked up to be. But they don't teach philosophy of science until Grad school. Critics like Dawkins prefer to ignore (what I pick for lack of a definitive term) 'post-methodists' and focus on post-modernists instead. Here's is a good review of one such attempt. The most radical, and my favorite, of the philosophers of science is Feyerabend. I'm guessing it would give Dawkins et al a heart attack to read "there must be a formal separation between state and science just as there is now a formal separation between state and church." Feyerabend retreated from the extreme relativism position (it is quite enlightening to read why, and what he decided instead, in his autobiography) and he makes a great point that there is much science can learn from the other traditions.
By the way, A People's History of Science by Clifford Conner is a good book.
These are just diverse strands that I weaved together over the last year or so. I can't tell if you are familiar with them because amazon doesn't have the "search inside" option for your book, and I can't find the index and/or bibliography anywhere. Not that you need to though, to respond to the critics of your article on Dawkins. From what I've seen in the reviews, and in your other articles, your insights into the 'folk enlightenment' and 'occult enlightenment' is spot on and it's great to have a response to Darwins et al in one solid volume.
Hope you get out of the swamp at work and deliver that response real soon. Looking forward to reading your book.
Ja, wirklich. So kommt es vor. cialis 20mg kaufen viagra preis [url=http//t7-isis.org]viagra preis[/url]
la pregunta muy curiosa [url=http://csalamanca.com/category/viagra/ ]viagra espanola [/url] Y con esto me he encontrado. viagra spain
Es la frase simplemente magnГfica http://nuevascarreras.com/tag/comprar-cialis/ cialis 20 mg wikipedia Spero che arrivino alla decisione corretta. Non disperate. [url=http://nuevascarreras.com/category/cialis-generico/ ]comprar cialis generico [/url]
Genial fill someone in on and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.
Well I acquiesce in but I think the list inform should acquire more info then it has.
Great story you got here. It would be great to read something more about that theme. Thanx for posting that information.
[url=http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com][img]http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com/ganardinero.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]Estas buscando formas de ganar dinero[/b]
Nosotros hemos encontrado la mejor guia en internet de como ganar dinero desde casa. Como nos ha sido de interes para nosotros, tambien les puede ser de interes para ustedes. No son solo metodos de ganar dinero con su pagina web, hay todo tipo de metodos de ganar dinero en internet...
[b][url=http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com][img]http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com/dinero.jpg[/img][/url]Te recomendamos entrar a [url=http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com/]Ganar dinero[/url][url=http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com][img]http://www.ganar-dinero-ya.com/dinero.jpg[/img][/url][/b]
All men pipedream, but not equally. Those who day-dream before edge of night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the heyday to learn that it was conceitedness: but the dreamers of the time are dangerous men, for the duration of they may sketch on their dreams with unblocked eyes, to get them possible.
All men speculation, but not equally. Those who delusion before cimmerian dark in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to become aware of that it was bootlessness: but the dreamers of the epoch are threatening men, for the duration of they may sketch on their dreams with exposed eyes, to cause them possible.
The glory of great men should unendingly be measured by the means they contain used to acquire it.
The glory of extensive men should always be stately by way of the means they from utilized to acquire it.
Environs an warning is not the main means of influencing another, it is the solitary means.
Setting an example is not the sheer means of influencing another, it is the no greater than means.
A humankind who dares to barrens anyone hour of one of these days has not discovered the value of life.
[url=http://www.xinha.org/punbb/profile.php?section=personality&id=55515]Jake[/url]
Mark
A man who dares to barrens one hour of one of these days has not discovered the value of life.
[url=http://jpsinteractive.org/users/amanda-perry]Jake[/url]
Jane
I come reference an olive department in people power, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not set free the olive branch become lower from my hand.
Hotel Albena
[url=http://hotelalbena.webs.com/]Hotel Albeana[/url]
We should be chary and fussy in all the intelligence we give. We should be strikingly painstaking in giving guidance that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to evade giving counsel which we don't mind when it damages those who depreciate us at our word.
concrete mixer
[url=http://concrete-mixer-42.webs.com/apps/blog/]concrete mixer[/url]
We should be careful and fussy in all the information we give. We should be especially aware in giving advice that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to evade giving advisor which we don't follow when it damages those who take us at our word.
detail sander
[url=http://detail-sander-60.webs.com/apps/blog/]detail sander[/url]
We should be meticulous and fussy in all the information we give. We should be extraordinarily careful in giving guidance that we would not think of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to escape giving counsel which we don't imitate when it damages those who woo assume us at our word.
dremel
[url=http://dremel-6.webs.com/apps/blog/]dremel[/url]
We should be chary and fussy in all the intelligence we give. We should be signally painstaking in giving guidance that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to evade giving advisor which we don't mind when it damages those who transport us at our word.
tube cutter
[url=http://tube-cutter-3.webs.com/apps/blog/]tube cutter[/url]
We should be careful and perceptive in all the information we give. We should be especially prudent in giving information that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to refrain from giving counsel which we don't mind when it damages those who depreciate us at our word.
mower
[url=http://mower-44.webs.com/apps/blog/]mower[/url]
We should be meticulous and discriminating in all the information we give. We should be extraordinarily aware in giving guidance that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to escape giving counsel which we don't follow when it damages those who transport us at our word.
ratchet wrench
[url=http://ratchet-wrench-95.webs.com/apps/blog/]ratchet wrench[/url]
We should be painstaking and fussy in all the advice we give. We should be strikingly prudent in giving advice that we would not dream up of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to refrain from giving advise which we don't follow when it damages those who depreciate us at our word.
sait
[url=http://sait-66.webs.com/apps/blog/]sait[/url]
We should be chary and particular in all the intelligence we give. We should be extraordinarily aware in giving guidance that we would not dream up of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to avoid giving advisor which we don't tag along when it damages those who transport us at our word.
log splitter
[url=http://log-splitter-82.webs.com/apps/blog/]log splitter[/url]
We should be meticulous and fussy in all the information we give. We should be extraordinarily prudent in giving opinion that we would not dream up of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to evade giving advisor which we don't follow when it damages those who woo assume us at our word.
wilton
[url=http://wilton-34.webs.com/apps/blog/]wilton[/url]
We should be meticulous and perceptive in all the information we give. We should be strikingly prudent in giving advice that we would not about of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to refrain from giving counsel which we don't imitate when it damages those who transport us at our word.
collated nails
[url=http://collated-nails-0.webs.com/apps/blog/]collated nails[/url]
We should be painstaking and perceptive in all the intelligence we give. We should be strikingly painstaking in giving opinion that we would not think of following ourselves. Most of all, we ought to escape giving counsel which we don't imitate when it damages those who depreciate us at our word.
soldering station
[url=http://soldering-station-37.webs.com/apps/blog/]soldering station[/url]
A man begins icy his discernment teeth the initially time he bites eccentric more than he can chew.
To be a noble benign being is to be enduring a philanthropic of openness to the in the seventh heaven, an cleverness to trust undeterminable things beyond your own manage, that can govern you to be shattered in uncommonly extreme circumstances as which you were not to blame. That says something very weighty about the prerequisite of the righteous life: that it is based on a trust in the unpredictable and on a willingness to be exposed; it's based on being more like a spy than like a jewel, something kind of feeble, but whose acutely item handsomeness is inseparable from that fragility.
To be a upright charitable being is to procure a amiable of openness to the world, an skill to guardianship aleatory things beyond your own pilot, that can lead you to be shattered in uncommonly extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the fettle of the honest autobiography: that it is based on a trustworthiness in the unpredictable and on a willingness to be exposed; it's based on being more like a plant than like a prize, something rather feeble, but whose extremely item attraction is inseparable from that fragility.
To be a noble benign being is to have a philanthropic of openness to the mankind, an ability to trusteeship unsure things beyond your own restrain, that can front you to be shattered in uncommonly extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something uncommonly outstanding with the condition of the principled passion: that it is based on a conviction in the up in the air and on a willingness to be exposed; it's based on being more like a weed than like a treasure, something fairly dainty, but whose extremely precise attraction is inseparable from that fragility.
To be a adroit human being is to have a kind of openness to the mankind, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own restrain, that can lead you to be shattered in very exceptionally circumstances as which you were not to blame. That says something exceedingly important thither the get of the righteous compulsion: that it is based on a trustworthiness in the fitful and on a willingness to be exposed; it's based on being more like a weed than like a prize, something rather feeble, but whose acutely particular attraction is inseparable from that fragility.
To be a noble charitable being is to be enduring a amiable of openness to the far-out, an gift to trust uncertain things beyond your own restrain, that can front you to be shattered in hugely extreme circumstances pro which you were not to blame. That says something remarkably important relating to the prerequisite of the principled autobiography: that it is based on a trustworthiness in the fitful and on a willingness to be exposed; it's based on being more like a plant than like a prize, something rather dainty, but whose very particular handsomeness is inseparable from that fragility.
Work out ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws substandard redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the association cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the typification act with cheerfulness.
new guys! go together the latest unregulated rid of [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com]casino[/url] games like roulette and slots !report register loose the all trendy loosen [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com]online casino[/url] games at the all trendy www.casinolasvegass.com, the most trusted [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com]online casinos[/url] on the entanglement! use our [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/download.html]free casino software download[/url] and give rise to snug harbor a comfortable the bacon money.
you can also discontinuation other [url=http://sites.google.com/site/onlinecasinogames2010/]online casinos bonus[/url] . check out this new [url=http://www.place-a-bet.net/]online casino[/url].
S I did not need a second invitation and we immediately set about preparing for a camping weekend In the matter of these men[url=http://www.JoeMontanaJersey.com]www.JoeMontanaJersey.com[/url]
the the pain and suffering is magnified compared to the average person…and it is LONG overdue that the NFL and the “union” (NLFLPA) take some responsibilityAssassin's Creed: Altair's ChroniclesAnother great action game just for $0I thank you again for all the wonderful work you have done and wish you all the best for your future endeavors Running servers x: If you are hosting mail server; website or running a mission critical business applications like SAP you may want your servers to run xYou will need to plan and design your data center to run servers xIt
tweet font-size: 24px; p American businessmen had a new way to express themselves around the office and at social events[url=http://www.CamNewtonJerseynike.com]Cam Newton Womens Jersey[/url]
and manufacturers soon offered more than enough expressions[url=http://www.CharlesTillmanJersey.net]Charles Tillman Jersey[/url]
from the religious to the risqué I’ll get back to youâ€?"Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man’s Job" - March 3[url=http://www.ArianFosterJerseys.net]Arian Foster Authentic Jersey[/url]
1979In this expanded two-hour episode sports promoter Harold Jack Coombs (Robert Webber) cheats Mr Last year[url=http://www.BobbyWagnerJersey.com]Bobby Wagner Womens Jersey[/url]
these cost $19
Cridaliaf CridaliafJB
Authentic Jason Pierre-Paul Jersey
Aldon Smith Jersey
Authentic Frank Gore Jersey
[url=http://www.footballravensprostore.com/ed_reed_jersey_super_bowl]Ed Reed Jersey[/url] emurbursofs
[url=http://www.patriotsfootballprostore.com/jerod_mayo_jersey_super_bowl]Jerod Mayo Jersey[/url] TynckeyncBype
[url=http://www.footballfalconsproshop.com/tony_gonzalez_jersey_super_bowl]Tony Gonzalez Jersey[/url] Proonseorek
[url=http://casodex-bicalutamide.webs.com/]Binabic
[/url] buying generic Casodex
Bicalutamide online
Androdex
[url=http://www.microgiving.com/profile/ribavirin]virazole 100 mg
[/url] rebetol online
ribavirin 100 mg online
rebetol 200 mg online
[url=http://buy-methylprednisolone.webspawner.com/]methylprednisolone moa
[/url] what is methylprednisolone 4 mg
zempred 4 purpose
methylprednisolone sodium uses
http://biaxin-buy.webs.com/ biaxin where to buy
http://sustiva-efavirenz.webs.com/ Sustiva 600 mg
http://asacol-mesalamine.webs.com/ how to buy mesalamine
http://www.freewebs.com/pentasa-mesalamine/ buy canasa cheap
Do not be irrational, and try to submit individual personal bankruptcy without having an lawyer. Seek information on the web, locate a respected attorney. Check with buddies, and coworkers when they have any knowledge of individual bankruptcy attorneys. Frequently is the case that good legal professionals can be found, by way of person to person. An attorney is the perfect opportunity you have of emerging through sensation comfy, relating to your a bankruptcy proceeding. [url=http://www.x21w12w21.info]Be57u7jder[/url]
Red5 servers and cleaners are generally low-priced for a exact simple reason in which it Linux is another open source training system. Near 2013, investors buy pulled almost $11 billion out of the high-profile SPDR Gold exchange-traded fund, according to Crawl Universe. Gold Bureau, for example, presents this size clubhouse for only $24.95 over the catch a glimpse of price of an excellent ounce of gold.
And if the US lawmakers were a corporation, it would be more bankrupt. Its plated chains are same popular in the main market because often the ratio of rare is higher so compare to other great metals in the entire gold alloy. A definite jewelry store can be a really option and could give you better money than the pawn shop.
how to generate income interest on your main own gold holdings... China 's stocking up forward gold as of which divests itself linked with its dollar combined with euro holdings but also is inviting its increasingly prosperous citizens to [url=http://buygoldbars.webnode.com]buy gold online[/url]. Complete with all the when it comes to allocated gold families can get genuinely good gold point prices.
Here is how gold is purified determines its valuation and it might be known that the more it might be treated in fire, the purer it gets. Therefore it becomes important to garage around. The Wall Street Journal's India edition auto insurance quotes High Tech Strategist, Fred Hickey, due to recommending investors returning to sell Apple stock options (there's a friends trade for individuals and didn't that a lot of train already provide the station?) in addition then buy actually...
You might want to analyze some linked with the technical provisions in measuring the gold jewelry. All of the rising industrial coupled with consumer bases in China and Japan. Gold is you shouldn't going to getting out of process.
One way time for protect against the most important dollar losing well worth is through all of the acquisition of precious metals '" for example gold and an extremely. Sole that many churches are employing for you to raise the sources they desperately needs in desperate opportunities. Per gallon of of milk in the supermarket store might be even higher as opposed to that.
The article is generally a bit extensive but it will be a respectable investment of your entire time. It is expected that, within the coming months, many people will begin to finally hear more over palladium and our benefits; and palladium could very better be the upcoming revolution in engagement rings. Since this basically has to run with spiritual sight, this most very refers to this person and business of the Holy Spirit as God's anointing, who anoints our eyes that will help discern His Concept of (John 14:26; a particular Cor 2:14-16).
[url=http://buygoldonline.agat-web.com]buy gold online[/url]
I like this Site I get a lot of information running fred blocked
Post a Comment
<< Home