Blog Posts

Among the world’s mysteries is the transformation of naked power into authority. Yes, from time immemorial, there have been those with the means to impose their will on others. But we say, or at least we used to say, that when the state acts, its agents possess not mere power, but...

A good friend of mine is a physician. In a recent conversation, I was describing a new book I had just read, referring to a powerful critique of Judith Jarvis Thompson’s famous defense of the right to have an abortion, first published in 1971 in Philosophy and Public Affairs....

The utter cynicism of the $27 million settlement of the George Floyd case is breathtaking. At the very least, there ought to be a public hearing to determine whether the criminal charges against Derek Chauvin should be dismissed.
Yes, Mr. Floyd died in police custody....

In the fall of 2017, something extraordinary happened. An object entered our solar system, headed toward the Sun, then rounded the Sun and headed back out of the solar system. The path it took, its apparent luminosity, and the speed at which it traveled, make it unlikely to be a random...

The acquittal of Donald Trump was a foregone conclusion in his first and second impeachment trials. Now Senators are suggesting that a bipartisan commission study the riot/insurrection of January 6, 2021. Such a commission would produce a report similar to that produced after the 9/11...

It is difficult to fathom why federal prosecutors waited four years to bring charges against Douglass Mackey, a.k.a. Ricky Vaughn, and it is inconceivable that they did so by dispensing with the requirements of a grand jury. The only explanation is that this is a political prosecution....

Suppose you were suddenly accused of sexual assault. Your accuser claims that one night, a dozen or more years ago, you crossed a line. You’re arrested, and now publicly accused of rape. In an instant, your reputation is destroyed.
Assume for the moment you...

The thing that most terrifies me about the Covid-19 pandemic is not the prospect of death or physical illness. No one gets out of here alive: I’m old enough to understand that less as the abstract application of a syllogism – all men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore...

If Ronald Brownstein, senior political analyst at The Atlantic, is right, the results of the 2020 election hardly matter at all, at least in the long run. He concluded his most recent piece, published just before the election, with the following:
“The 2020...

Viktor Frankenstein had a vision, a dream, really. Could he create life? He left his hometown of Geneva, Switzerland for a local university. The world learned of his exploits in 1818. Mary Shelley tells his tale in Frankenstein.
I reread the book every so often, and...