Category Archives: Philosophy

The Philosopher and the Chair

Posted on October 4, 2021 by odeboyz

A philosophy professor entered his lecture theatre and put a chair on the desk. He then asked his students to prove the chair didn’t exist.The students settled to the task except for one. He spent a few seconds writing his … Continue reading →

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Bertrand Russell on Religion

Posted on September 20, 2021 by odeboyz
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The pacifist and the soldier: Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein

Posted on September 20, 2021 by odeboyz

Bertrand Russell had been jailed for his anti-war activities but his close intellectual friend Ludwig Wittgenstein was in the Austrian army as a private soldier. By March 1919 Russell had been released but Wittgenstein was still in a prisoner of … Continue reading →

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Immigration: Conservative Hypocrisy 1903, 1938, 2021

Posted on July 29, 2021 by odeboyz

1903 IMMIGRATION OF DESTITUTE ALIENS. HC Deb 26 February 1903 vol 118 cc938-77 Sir Howard Vincent (Conservative)1 In the first place, I should like to say most emphatically that this motion has nothing whatever to do with any religious question. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R Sunstein ~ Noise: A flaw in human judgment (2021)

Posted on July 8, 2021 by odeboyz

Reviewing this book puts me in a difficult situation. All I want to do is swoon at the feet of the authors proclaiming their genius. This makes me a groupie. However I’ll try to write something that looks like a … Continue reading →

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The UK Mayoral Elections, 2021

Posted on May 20, 2021 by odeboyz

Turnout in none of the eleven 2021 Mayoral elections came close to 50%+1.The electorate shunned the opportunity to participate. (see Addendum) Does this affect the legitimacy of the result? Let’s imagine an election in fictional Loncaster which has an electorate … Continue reading →

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Barack Obama: War Criminal

Posted on April 29, 2021 by odeboyz

Americans love painless war – painless for them that is. The current weapons of choice are Drones. Drones are murderous console games.1 Those using them claim US intelligence is flawless and drone attacks are entirely effective. Putting it crudely, ‘Only … Continue reading →

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Free Speech and the Paradox of Constraint

Posted on April 22, 2021 by odeboyz

The principal challenge free-speech presents is that constraints are necessary to make it meaningful. Unconstrained free speech simply means speech. A discussion about free-speech concerns the necessary constraints that there should be and, importantly, who says what they are and … Continue reading →

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The Changing Meaning of Statues: Actual and Potential

Posted on April 1, 2021 by odeboyz

“The extent of his [Edward Colston] charity was immense, exceptional and nationally recognised. When his portrait was published in London a year after his death in 1721, the engraved description described him as “the brightest Example of Christian Liberality that … Continue reading →

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Hitler, Chamberlain and Clausewitz

Posted on September 17, 2020 by odeboyz

Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement failed in 1939 and was replaced with something worse. He decided Britain was a lion. Chamberlain threatened Hitler with war if Germany attacked Poland. The German High Command knew Britain couldn’t defend Poland and Hitler believed … Continue reading →

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