Politics & society – Page 66

On taking food seriously

March 26, 2014 Julian Baggini Articles & Essays, Food

It is absurd to claim that anything that is not essential to our survival is a “luxury” we should not be concerned about. This is not a humane viewpoint, but a deeply anti-humanist one. Why, after all, are we so concerned that many people do not have the necessities of life? Not because we think that mere survival is the purpose of existence. We want people to have food, shelter, health and education so that they can thrive and flourish. To put it another way, we want our “middle-class indulgences” to be available to everyone.

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Should we avoid value judgments?

March 18, 2014 Julian Baggini The Shrink and The Sage

No one has infallible access to moral truth and there is more than one good way to live. But that does not mean that no one has any moral insight and that there aren’t many wrong ways to live. The alternative to unjustified confidence in the one true way is not a misguided faith in the validity of all paths.

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Oh, what a lucrative war?

March 11, 2014 Julian Baggini Articles & Essays

Which event taking place in Britain this year promises to offer many “commercial opportunities”, serve “as an economic driver”, “contribute to the regeneration” and provide “a great opportunity to promote” a “wonderful town”? The 450th birthday of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, perhaps, or the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow? No. It’s the anniversary of the start of the First World War…

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Another Battle of Ideas

January 22, 2014 Julian Baggini Asides, Videos

TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT IRONY? A film of a discussion at the 2013 Battle of Ideas I took part in with Edward Docx, Tiffany Jenkins and John Waters, chaired by Jacob Reynolds.

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Money Isn’t Everything

January 17, 2014 Julian Baggini Articles & Essays, Asides

MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING. I collaborated on this piece for Perspectives, a magazine of the New Econimics Foundation. Read online here.

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