archive

Legal theory, political philosophy and science

Joseph Raz (Oxford): (1) Reason, Reasons and Normativity; (2) About Morality and the Nature of Law; (3) Can There be a Theory of Law?; and (4) The Argument from Justice, or How Not to Reply to Legal Positivism; Ilya Somin (George Mason) and Neal Devins (William and Mary): Can We Make the Constitution More Democratic? Steven Douglas Smith (San Diego): Our Agnostic Constitution. Larry Alexander (San Diego): What Is Freedom of Association, and What Is Its Denial? James Fowler (UCSD) and Sangick Jeon (UC-Davis): The Authority of Supreme Court Precedent. Peter Westen (Michigan): Why Criminal Harms Matter: Plato's Abiding Insight in the Laws. 

Form Ovi, an article on Heroic Materialism in Western Culture (and part 2). A review of Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government by Michael Mandelbaum.   Leo Strauss has been blamed for the rise of the neocons and even the invasion of Iraq. Now one of his disciples hopes to clear his name. The first chapter form The Transformation of American Politics: Activist Government and the Rise of Conservatism, ed. by Paul Pierson and Theda Skocpol. A review of The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk by Gerald J. Russello. An article on the pragmatism of Russell Kirk. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism is not exactly a title you would expect to encounter at National Review

The first chapter from The Unnatural History of Science by Alan Wallace. The introduction to The Great Brain Debate: Nature or Nurture? by John E. Dowling. Mind over matter? Many philosophers and scientists have argued that free will is an illusion. Unlike all of them, Benjamin Libet found a way to test it. Out of your mind, not out of your body: Out-of-body experiences can now be created at will. Studying them sheds light on the nature of consciousness. Real Out-of-Body Experiences: By providing wrong but matching views and feelings, scientists mentally "teleport" people outside their own bodies. Viral and virtual: A plague in a computer game may have epidemiological lessons for the real world.