online archive

A new issue of Axess is out, including an editorial on postmodernism at the end of the road; and Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom on how contrarianism has a proud intellectual heritage, but in its postmodern flowering it merely became juvenile, complacently smashing up the entire interlocking crossword puzzle of human knowledge; Richard Wolin on how theoretical cultural movements from structuralism onwards generated a cynicism about reason and democracy which was once a hallmark of reactionary thought, but which became the stock-in-trade of the postmodern left; and today’s social scientists reject the positivist idea that it is possible to explain a shared reality. But relativist sociology renders its own discipline redundant. Christofer Edling argues for a return to positivism as the only serious way of coming to grips with the major issues of our times.

Joseph Raz (Oxford): Human Rights without Foundations. Randy Barnett reviews of Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) by Sanford Levinson. From TNR, Rawls Fatigue: Linda Hirshman on liberals' misplaced love of John Rawls. From Telos, an article on Carl Schmitt and Nuremberg. A review of Religions, Reasons and Gods: Essays in Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion by John Clayton.

Thomas Cusack (Berlin), Torben Iversen (Harvard) and David Soskice (Duke): Economic Interests and the Origins of Electoral Systems. Suzanne Berger (MIT): Historic Imbalances and Great Debates: Do the Economists See It Coming? Who wants to be a cultural billionaire? Economist Tyler Cowen aims to help us live richer lives, and maybe get our kids to do their chores (and more).

From Inside Higher Ed, better than expected, worse than it seems: Gary Orfield, Erica Frankenberg and Liliana M. Garces write that colleges and their students will suffer because of the Supreme Court’s desegregation decision; and Faith and Fairness: After legal victory in religious discrimination case, former Broward Community College instructor has more to prove. The Alice Ottley School closes and merges with a co-ed school as part of a societal shift away from girls-only institutions. As it becomes a reality, pupils and advocates of single-sex education feel that independence is not the only thing that the school is losing. From The New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann on the Supreme Court and integrated schools. Say What? A slur at Roger Williams University leads to a lesson in accountability. Bucks for Brains: Kid gives teacher an apple, teacher gives kid $50.