Academe Time to re-evaluate higher education 2 May 201122 Jun 2018 When my grandfather was a boy of 14, he started a career as a fireman that led to him being the chief of the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the 1930s. While he did this he gained an engineer’s certificate, but he was working, earning and building a career. He… Continue Reading
Epistemology Believing and knowing 28 Apr 201129 Apr 2011 I was musing the other day, as I passed by a church school on a walk, on the difference between belief and knowledge. The teachers at that school must teach both. But, I thought, if they taught the wrong knowledge, a generation will arise in which knowledge will be corrupted… Continue Reading
Academe Did Synthese bow to Intelligent Design pressure? 14 Apr 20114 Oct 2017 A while back I published a paper in a special edition of Synthese on “Evolution and its rivals”. My paper was titled “Are Creationists Rational?” in which I argued that yes, in a bounded sense they are. I was very pleased to be invited to publish in this front rank… Continue Reading
Biology Darwin Day: Enough already 18 Feb 2011 I love studying about Darwin and his life and times. I have read enormous amounts, and taught Darwinian history. I’m teaching it again this semester. But enough already. Can we talk about modern biology now? I get a strong impression ( and that’s all this is, as I can’t find… Continue Reading
Evolution Arseholes! Systematics, phylogenetics and HPS 10 Feb 2011 There’s been some developments this day. First of all a defunct blog on history and philosophy of science has revived with a new skin and as a group blog: AmericanScience: A Team Blog. I keep wanting to say “F&*k yeah!” It used to be the Forum for the History of… Continue Reading
Philosophy On dictionaries, movements and rhetorical flourishes 9 Feb 2011 Lately, PZ Myers has been on a tear. He has rejected what he calls “Dictionary Atheism”. I have to admit, he has a way with words. I love it that he can come up with such things as the Courtier’s Reply, his Complexity Design Argument, and so forth. It’s fun… Continue Reading
Rant So, can we have some civility now? 11 Jan 2011 Now that a lack of civil discourse has contributed to yet another act of righteous violence – and let’s not pretend that it hasn’t – it seems that we can justifiably raise the question of civility elsewhere, surely. The sort of marginalisation of those who differ is one of the… Continue Reading
Censorship Statism and Wikileaks 20 Dec 2010 So, I have not said much about Wikileaks because it is as discussed a topic as can be, but I’m feeling curmudgeonly, so here goes. Regular programming will resume after this rant. Dogs gotta howl, cats gotta kill small things, and states gotta act like secretive bastards. And woe betide… Continue Reading
Administrative On inspiration 26 Nov 2010 Being as I am swamped with boring, but remunerative, things to do, I haven’t blogged for a while. So another reflection. As I age, I find that I am no longer struck by the vivacity of books. When I was in my twenties, and discovering new fields and ideas for… Continue Reading
Politics Tone wars 31 Oct 2010 There are a group of critics of religion, of pseudoscience, of regressive politics – all excellent targets for criticism – who think that if you in any way seek polite, civil or reasoned discourse with the targets of your criticisms, you are weak and accommodationist. I call these “tone warriors”… Continue Reading