Tag Archives: Leo Strauss

Trump’s Warsaw Speech: some tentative thoughts on the Crisis of the West

Posted on August 12, 2017 by

Trump’s Warsaw speech has attracted a lot of attention. Grown men and women have literally swooned at its beauty, grandeur, and audacity. Their claims suggest that if you combined Lincoln’s Lyceum Address, King’s I have a Dream speech, and Kennedy’s … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, public opinion, statesmanship | Tagged , , , , ,

Thoughts on Michael Anton and Leo Strauss’ Machiavelli

Posted on May 3, 2017 by

In a recent interview, Mr Anton said that he knew “Nick”, his short hand for Niccolo Machiavelli, for over 30 years. He qualified his support by saying he followed the Leo Strauss’ Machiavelli.[1] For his interviewer, this made sense. Leo … Continue reading →

Posted in good writing, Government, justice, philosophy, republicanism, statesmanship | Tagged , , , , ,

In the UK, political philosophy is a pre-crime

Posted on December 15, 2015 by

Only a brave self-confident community can tolerate a man uncompromisingly dedicated to the open quest for truth. –Harry Neumann On the surface, the idea seems to be ludicrous like something Philip K. Dick might write. He coined the term “pre-crime”[1] … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, justice, philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Persecution and the Art of Writing the return to an ancient problem

Posted on April 24, 2015 by

The story of the Bangladeshi writers who were hacked to death has not drawn as much attention as the Charlie Hebdo attack even though they share some similarities. The Bangladeshi writers wanted to write about atheism and to question the … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, education, philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Partial Commentary on Howse’s Leo Strauss: Man of Peace

Posted on February 21, 2015 by

Prefatory remarks.[1] Professor Howse has written an ambitious book to make the case for Leo Strauss as a man of peace and to defend him from his critics. That he has to meet both charges is indicative of the state … Continue reading →

Posted in good writing, Government, justice, philosophy, statesmanship | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Response to Corey Robin on Eichmann: funny man

Posted on November 9, 2014 by

(This post is a response to Corey Robbin’s blog[1]) One must always remember that ridicule is not a refutation. The most direct way to put this is that victims of the Final Solution did not laugh their way to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, justice, philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Prosecution and the art of social media writing: reflections on McAlpine v Bercow

Posted on May 24, 2013 by

Today, the High Court ruled that Sally Bercow had defamed Lord McAlpine through a tweet, which could be understand to accuse him of sexually abusing boys in care. It follows that, for these reasons, I find that the Tweet meant, … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, good writing, privacy, transparency, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hyperlinks, Leo Strauss and the return of esoteric writing

Posted on May 31, 2012 by

I have been thinking recently about the phrase “Hyperlinks subvert hierarchies.”  I argued in an earlier blog that this was not the case.  I suggested that hyperlinks reflect hierarchies and those hierarchies are networks.  In that approach, I only considered … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, education, good writing, Government, statesmanship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Constant connectivity and the search for meaning

Posted on October 19, 2011 by

The SXSWi Festival made me think about the limits of constant connectivity. http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/03/sxsw2011-4-themes.html  By that I do not mean in a technological sense. Connectivity is creating a gap.  The gap is one of meaning.  By that I mean we are … Continue reading →

Posted in good writing, linked data, open data, transparency | Tagged , , , , ,