Review of Building: Isaiah Berlin’s Letters
In their introduction, the editors say: “If this is not one of the best letter-writers of the 20th century, we are ready to eat our respective hats.” Gentlemen, you can leave your hats on.
ReadCategory: Articles & Essays
The murdered Good Samaritan
Christ’s original question was: “Who is my neighbour?” Today we are less likely to ask that of our potential saviours than we are of the people we might help, directly or through our taxes. Yesterday’s news feeds our fear that our neighbours are more likely than not to be bad eggs: benefit fraudsters, bogus asylum seekers, paedophiles or jihadist terrorists
ReadIn praise of cynicism
If there’s one thing that makes me cynical, it’s optimists. They are just far too cynical about cynicism. If only they could see that cynics can be happy, constructive, even fun to hang out with, they might learn a thing or two.
ReadWhy are allotments becoming less popular?
Allotments are a wonderful British institution that should be protected and extended. Demand may have fallen but it is still very high. But let’s not kid ourselves they reduce food miles or increase food security. The case for allotments is spiritual and psychological, not economic or environmental.
ReadThe death of my father
What surprises me is not that people die or get sick, but that other people continue to be so surprised when it happens. Am I unusual in this because I have devoted so much of my life to philosophy? I suspect the causal arrow is the other way round: I have devoted so much of my life to philosophy because I am unusual in this. After all, it is not as though the basic insight depends on a close reading of the Stoics, Socrates or Schopenhauer.
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