It has become common in some circles to refer to the complex of ideas and beliefs generally labelled as ‘woke’, as a kind of religion, or at least vey like a religion (see, e.g., John McWhorter’s Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, 2021, Portfolio/Penguin). The term ‘woke’ has become for someContinue reading “A Crisis of Faith?”
Author Archives: jshearn
On Two Systems of Knowledge
Humans rely on two distinct systems of knowledge, that are both parts of our evolutionary heritage. The one concerns our perception and processing of the reality around us, our physical environment. We need to accurately map the opportunities and risks, and judge our capacity to operate in that environment, locating food sources, avoiding predators, judgingContinue reading “On Two Systems of Knowledge”
On the Boundaries of Academic and Administrative Practice
In an earlier blog I raised questions about the idea of ‘decolonisation’ in academia, arguing that ‘western thought’ is a kind of ‘tradition’ with an internal integrity and logic that needs to be respected, even while it evolves and modifies. Here I add to that argument, focussing on decolonising the curriculum as a practical agendaContinue reading “On the Boundaries of Academic and Administrative Practice”
The Domestication of Competition
My new book (title above) is now out with Cambridge University Press. See: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/domestication-of-competition/8ABCFA88546A8CE13907FFEC3E4351B1#fndtn-information I reproduce the description from that webpage: Book description Competition is deeply built into the structures of modern life. It can improve policies, products and services, but is also seen as a divisive burden that pits people against one another. ThisContinue reading “The Domestication of Competition”
Conservatism, tradition, and ‘the canon’
Increasingly in these disorienting times labels of left and right, liberal and conservative, don’t seem to mean what they used to. I see myself as fairly tradition social democrat, supporting liberal democracy from a ‘left’ vantage point, and believing in a need for a balance between public and private power in society. But when encounteringContinue reading “Conservatism, tradition, and ‘the canon’”
On Respect
We talk a lot about ‘dignity and respect’ these days, and large organisations usually have ‘dignity and respect’ policies that seek to regulate conduct among staff in regard to things such as harassment and bullying. For instance, the University of Edinburgh Dignity and Respect Policy states: Integrity, collegiality and inclusivity are central to the University’sContinue reading “On Respect”
Moral Responsibility, History as Rhetoric, and Henry Dundas
A few months back a piece I wrote for The Spectator (9 January 2022) provoked a stream of negative and hostile reaction on Twitter from Professor Geoffery Palmer. I was objecting to the approach and basic assumptions of the Edinburgh City Council’s Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group, as revealed in a recent publicContinue reading “Moral Responsibility, History as Rhetoric, and Henry Dundas”
Cutting the corpus callosum
I remember one of my graduate school teachers, Eric R. Wolf, describing anthropology, the discipline I was studying, as ‘the most scientific of the humanities, and the most humanistic of the social sciences’ (this was a recurring theme in his writing). I always identified with this characterisation, refusing a strong boundary between the sciences andContinue reading “Cutting the corpus callosum”
Foucault, Marx, and pervasive power
One frequently hears the complaint about ‘identity politics’ and ‘critical race theory’ that they are obsessed with power and reduce all social relationships to power, and that this is a fundamental error, and overgeneralisation of power (see for instance, Lindsay and Pluckrose’s Cynical Theories, 2020). On the contrary, I would argue that the thesis ofContinue reading “Foucault, Marx, and pervasive power”
US Presidential Election 2020: a failure of competition?
As I write this the US is in a strange limbo. Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the November 3rd Presidential election by news media and poll analysts, and has been recognised as the President-Elect by many foreign heads of state. All that awaits is formal confirmation through the reporting of the electoralContinue reading “US Presidential Election 2020: a failure of competition?”
Uneasy Essays 