Philosophy ⋆ Page 17 of 41 ⋆ Brownstone Institute

How Did the World’s Smartest People Fail So Miserably?

Toby Rogers / April 10, 2023 / Philosophy / 3 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

It’s over, that phase of American history, when a bunch of people baptized in the values of the 1960s, could be expected to provide the intellectual framework necessary to move society forward. There is no recovery from what they did, they collaborated with the enemy when the fate of society was on the line. To use their favorite phrase — they became “constitutive of” the predatory system they once sought to critique. Our society is so corrupt that the term “intellectual” no longer has a coherent meaning.

How Did the World’s Smartest People Fail So Miserably? Read More »

Albert Camus on the Denial of Freedom

Jeffrey A. Tucker / April 9, 2023 / Philosophy, Society / 17 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

And then we realized that the separation was destined to continue, we had no choice but to come to terms with the days ahead. In short, we returned to our prison-house, we had nothing left us but the past, and even if some were tempted to live in the future, they had speedily to abandon the idea—anyhow, as soon as could be—once they felt the wounds that the imagination inflicts on those who yield themselves to it.

Albert Camus on the Denial of Freedom Read More »

Don’t Let Them Memory-Hole This

Jeffrey A. Tucker / April 6, 2023 / History, Philosophy / 6 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The tellers of tales can write stories but they cannot invent their own realities. There will be no restoration of liberty, rights, and truth until we come to terms with what happened, why, and how to prevent it in the future. Playing along with this conspiracy of silence surrounding a policy that effectively blotted out every advance in human rights since the Magna Carta is a disastrous error that could lead to the entrenchment of a new dark age.

Don’t Let Them Memory-Hole This Read More »

Reflections on the Triduum: Can the Darkness Turn to Light?

Rev. John F. Naugle / April 6, 2023 / Philosophy / 7 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Three years ago I felt the depth of the darkness which had entered the world, and I was moved to choose defiance in favor of the light. This brought my path to be part of the good work being done here at Brownstone. A Happy Easter to all, and let us continue the good fight against weaponized fear which seeks to prevent us from experiencing our highest goods.

Reflections on the Triduum: Can the Darkness Turn to Light? Read More »

Machiavelli and the Globalists: Why the Elites Despise Independent Thought

David McGrogan / April 5, 2023 / Government, Philosophy / 7 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

If it turns out that the population is not so vulnerable after all, and men, women and families can improve themselves and their communities without the aid of the state, then the entire structure upon which the edifice of raison d’État rests becomes radically unstable. This is at least part of the reason why these movements are so frequently smeared and traduced by the chattering classes which are so reliant themselves upon the state and its largesse.

Machiavelli and the Globalists: Why the Elites Despise Independent Thought Read More »

A Unifying Theory of Evil

Haley Kynefin / April 3, 2023 / Philosophy / 24 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Many of us can recognize the results of evil intuitively: evil causes vast human suffering; revokes our sense of human dignity; creates an ugly, dystopian, or disharmonic world; destroys beauty and poetry; perpetuates fear, anger, distress and terror; causes torture and bloodshed. Nevertheless, there are always some people who seem to remain ignorant of its presence — or, incredibly, see specific visceral atrocities as justified and even good.

A Unifying Theory of Evil Read More »

The Suffering of the Innocent

Michael J. Sutton / April 3, 2023 / Philosophy, Psychology / 5 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

We need to hear from the victims of Covid Hysteria if we seek real change. If we believe in freedom, we will start listening to those who have cried in the wilderness, walked in the darkness, and suffered in silence. The rest is background noise.

The Suffering of the Innocent Read More »

What Happened to the Human Rights Lobby?

David McGrogan / April 1, 2023 / Law, Philosophy / 7 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

They have little interest in traditional liberal values such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of conscience, and in fact are often implicitly contemptuous of those values and think them to be dangerous. And they are fairly comfortable with the idea of the authorities bossing people around so long as it is for their own (purported) benefit. They, in other words, see themselves as being something like Plato’s class of ‘guardians’, who possess the wisdom to coordinate society as they see fit.

What Happened to the Human Rights Lobby? Read More »

The Inherent Deceit of Modern Medicine

Paul Frijters,

Gigi Foster,

Michael Baker / March 29, 2023 / Philosophy, Society / 12 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The dominant Western culture of the modern era will not relinquish its ingrained deceitfulness without first going through a nasty and lengthy transformation in which we are acutely reminded that life is risky and humans are imperfect. It is conceivable that long-run side effects of the covid vaccines will help to remind us of this. The best we can hope for in the longer run is to design our institutions to lead the population gradually into a mindset of comfort with human limitations.

The Inherent Deceit of Modern Medicine Read More »

Technology and a Tyranny Worse than Prison

Bert Olivier / March 27, 2023 / Economics, Philosophy, Technology / 12 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

There is a lesson in this as far as the ineluctable need for action is concerned when rational argument with would-be oppressors gets one nowhere. This is especially the case when it becomes obvious that these oppressors are not remotely interested in a reasonable exchange of ideas, but summarily resort to the current unreasonable incarnation of technical rationality, namely AI-controlled mass surveillance, with the purpose of subjugating entire populations.

Technology and a Tyranny Worse than Prison Read More »

The Day the Sunrise Was a Curse

Jeffrey A. Tucker / March 17, 2023 / History, Philosophy / 6 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

We recall those days now and wonder how and why this all happened. Not one minute has passed since that day when I’ve rested from asking that question. Every day it feels like we get closer to knowing. And yet the truth keeps being ever more elusive with every revelation of the depths of the conspiracy, the range of the players, the interests at work, and the forever toggle between fear, plot, ignorance and malice.

The Day the Sunrise Was a Curse Read More »

Brainwashing Versus Critical Thinking in Japan

Bruce W. Davidson / March 13, 2023 / Philosophy, Psychology / 6 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The overwhelming majority in all age groups in Japan got caught up in the panic generated by government officials, mainstream news media, and the medical community. For three years now masks have been worn continuously everywhere, including mountain trails and public parks. The widespread use of brainwashing here has been especially disheartening to me, since I have spent much of my time and effort over the last thirty years teaching, researching, and writing about critical thinking education in Japan.

Brainwashing Versus Critical Thinking in Japan Read More »