A large part of the controversy between Islam and the West boils down to scriptural hermeneutics. “Scriptural hermeneutics” refers to the lens that a person, group, or religion uses to interpret their respective scriptures. Most Christians, for instance, hold to some sort of theory of “divine inspiration” in regard to how the Bible was
READ MORE
It’s probably important to preface any conversation on morality by noting that humans often struggle—mightily—to agree on what morality is. While it’s a thorny topic to define and explain, it would of course be foolish to avoid the pursuit of moral truths for this reason. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at the University of Virginia
READ MORE
In my reading on past education philosophy, I have repeatedly encountered the phrase “furniture of the mind.” Perhaps the first instance of it is found in one of the most famous educational documents in history—“The Yale Report of 1828”—where the faculty of Yale College (now University) said the following: “The two great points to be
READ MORE
Last year, the ethicist Walter-Sinnot Armstrong asked whether philosophers were out of touch with, even contemptuous, of ordinary people and everyday life. The picture he paints isn’t flattering: Philosophers love to complain about bad reasoning. How can those other people commit such silly fallacies? Don’t they see how arbitrary and inconsistent their positions are? Aren’t
READ MORE
Critics frequently accuse markets and capitalism of making life worse for the poor. This refrain is certainly common in the halls of left-leaning academia as well as in broader intellectual circles. But like so many other criticisms of capitalism, this one ignores the very real, and very available, facts of history. The biggest gains in
READ MORE
U.S. high school students recently scored a huge victory when they won the 2016 International Math Olympiad. The team’s head coach attributed the U.S.’s increased standing in math to the many online elements of self-education that are now available to the enterprising young student. But what about the young students who don’t pursue online math
READ MORE
Most Read from past 24 hours
Most Read from past 7 days
Most Read from past 30 days
Most Read of All Time
Most Read of All Time
