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Articles by Michael Liccione
Michael Liccione: Ukraine in 2025 is America in 1776
In late 1777, the American Revolution looked like it was failing. Freezing and nearly starving in Valley Forge, General Washington’s army had been driven from New York and Philadelphia. The squabbling, often ineffectual Continental Congress had been driven even further west into Pennsylvania. There was still much loyalist sentiment among the colonies. The United States might easily have been stillborn. Most Americans don’t appreciate how dodgy and unlikely our birth as a nation was.
Pathologizing Healthy Opinions
At some point you’ve probably heard an opinion of yours about morality, religion, or politics summarily dismissed with a reaction like: “You only say that because you’re a _____!” or “That’s just an excuse for _______.” Frustrating, isn’t it? If you’ve supplied reasons for your position, they don’t tackle those reasons. They just assume you’re wrong and purport to explain, usually in terms unflattering to you, why you make your error.
Middle School Teacher Fired for Informing Parents That Their Two Children Had Decided to Become 'Transgender'
School officials pushing the “transgender” agenda in middle schools have become hostile and brutal toward those who refuse to comply. A Massachusetts middle school teacher with a spotless 20-year record has been fired by the principal and superintendent. Her “crime” was informing the parents of a boy and girl what the school staff was doing to their children. In their zeal to fire her, they concocted a list of phony reasons that were easily debunked by the teacher’s attorney.
What We Learned When Joy Behar Called 'Caitlyn' Jenner 'He'
In response to Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner announcing his bid to oust California’s governor Gavin Newsom, Joy Behar said on The View, “He’s got this guy Brad Parscale running his campaign.” Later, Behar added, “I think that he should — she, rather, should take a seat and let somebody with the credentials take over a major state like California.” Behar subsequently apologized for the “pronoun mixup,” explaining, “but, whatever, it just came out so I’m sorry if anybody was upset by that.” But the...
Liberty Depends on 'Civil Society'
Among the relatively few college students exposed to it, the concept of “civil society” often puts them to sleep. It’s not exciting for people to hear that “civil society” refers to all those “mediating institutions” (another snoozer) between government and the individual, such as family, church, voluntary associations, and charitable organizations. American political debates today often fixate on the question of whether bigger or smaller government is good or bad for individual liberty.
Are We Becoming a Victimocracy?
Most of us learned—or should have learned—in school that the United States is a republic, not a democracy. Therefore, we do not have direct rule by the demos, the “mob” of common people, but by elected representatives and leaders. Of course, some cynically deny that our nominal governments actually rule. Our “real” rulers, they usually think, are oligarchs of some sort, people who get their way by buying politicians. But what if all that is becoming irrelevant?
Are We Becoming a Victimocracy?
Most of us learned—or should have learned—in school that the United States is a republic, not a democracy. Therefore, we do not have direct rule by the demos, the “mob” of common people, but by elected representatives and leaders. Of course, some cynically deny that our nominal governments actually rule. Our “real” rulers, they usually think, are oligarchs of some sort, people who get their way by buying politicians. But what if all that is becoming irrelevant?
The Creepy Normalization of Bulverism
At some point you’ve probably heard an opinion of yours about morality, religion, or politics summarily dismissed with a reaction like: “You only say that because you’re a _____!” or “That’s just an excuse for _______.” Frustrating, isn’t it? If you’ve supplied reasons for your position, they don’t tackle those reasons. They just assume you’re wrong and purport to explain, usually in terms unflattering to you, why you make your error.
The Creepy Normalization of Bulverism
At some point you’ve probably heard an opinion of yours about morality, religion, or politics summarily dismissed with a reaction like: “You only say that because you’re a _____!” or “That’s just an excuse for _______.” Frustrating, isn’t it? If you’ve supplied reasons for your position, they don’t tackle those reasons. They just assume you’re wrong and purport to explain, usually in terms unflattering to you, why you make your error.
The Creepy Normalization of Bulverism
At some point you’ve probably heard an opinion of yours about morality, religion, or politics summarily dismissed with a reaction like: “You only say that because you’re a _____!” or “That’s just an excuse for _______.” Frustrating, isn’t it? If you’ve supplied reasons for your position, they don’t tackle those reasons. They just assume you’re wrong and purport to explain, usually in terms unflattering to you, why you make your error.
Liberals Are Starting to Notice Liberal Intolerance
William F. Buckley once observed, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views." Buckley said that in the 1960s, but it is truer today on college campuses than ever. Even liberals are beginning to notice. A few months ago I posted about how an NYU social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, had noticed the lack of ideological diversity on university faculties in the humanities and social sciences.
Study: Liberals Deny Science just as much as Conservatives
Liberals often lament that conservatives are “deniers” of this-or-that scientific result, such as evolution or anthropocentric climate change. And there is some truth to this charge. Many Americans who identify as conservatives do deny that most species today originated from earlier ones via natural selection of genetic mutations, or that human carbon emissions have anything much to do with the measured increase in average global temperature over the past century-and-a-half.
Are Atheists Rejecting the Wrong God?
As a theist, I often sympathize with people who call themselves atheists. For when they describe the god in whom they disbelieve—who usually turns out to be a vindictive ogre, or some sort of super-alien—I find myself agreeing that I don’t believe in that deity either. Indeed, before there can be useful discussion of the question whether God exists, the interlocutors need to get clear with each other about what they mean by “God”. It’s not an easy task.
What’s Really Behind the Multiverse Theory
That there might be more than one universe, indeed infinitely many, seems at first to be more than a science-fiction fantasy. Respectable scientific cosmologists seriously posit and explore the hypothesis that there is a “multiverse.” But there’s good reason to believe that not all is as it seems. The piece I linked to above, which takes due account of skeptics, was published on NPR’s “Science Friday” site.
Why Identity Politics is Toxic for Everybody
Speakers invited to Hillsdale College have been hitting home runs lately. Two talks in particular poignantly diagnose the toxic effects of identity politics: one by University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax, who recounts her recent experience of it; the other by political journalist Matthew Continetti, who argues that it’s counterproductive as well as un-American.
Scholar: ‘Human Dignity’ Rare Before Christianity
In the modern West, we generally take for granted that human persons have an inherent dignity and worth that forms the basis for human rights. The very first clause of the preamble to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…” In fact, however, the idea of human dignity cannot be taken for granted.
Study: Liberals Deny Science just as much as Conservatives
Liberals often lament that conservatives are “deniers” of this-or-that scientific result, such as evolution or anthropocentric climate change. And there is some truth to this charge. Many Americans who identify as conservatives do deny that most species today originated from earlier ones via natural selection of genetic mutations, or that human carbon emissions have anything much to do with the measured increase in average global temperature over the past century-and-a-half.
Studying Philosophy Doesn’t Necessarily Make One Smarter
Does studying philosophy improve one’s thinking, and thus make one more employable? Some top and not-so-top philosophy departments, concerned by the threat of declining enrollment and funding cuts, would have you believe it does.
Thinking Rationally about Health Care
In order to make legislative choices about health care that are both humane and rational, we need to ask and discuss whether health care is a right or a commodity. If some sort or degree of health care is a right, we owe that care to each other regardless of individual ability to pay. If some sort and degree of health care is just a commodity, then you are owed merely what you can pay for, and nothing more. Of course the question is not easy to answer–or even to frame.
Not Everything Is Political
Many readers have probably heard, and a few may even have used, the slogan: “the personal is the political.” Though its original source is unclear, it first cropped up in the late 1960s and early 1970s (see this paper) within “second-wave” feminism. Back then, it had a legitimate point: women’s personal experiences and choices are strongly influenced by a political status quo which, in some respects, needed reforming to secure greater justice for women.
Not Everything Is Political
Many readers have probably heard, and a few may even have used, the slogan: “the personal is the political.” Though its original source is unclear, it first cropped up in the late 1960s and early 1970s (see this paper) within “second-wave” feminism. Back then, it had a legitimate point: women’s personal experiences and choices are strongly influenced by a political status quo which, in some respects, needed reforming to secure greater justice for women.
Psychologist: Social Justice the new Religious Fundamentalism
Religious believers sometimes say that atheism is a “faith,” and in that sense a religion. That’s debatable because they’re using the word ‘faith’ ambiguously, and trading on that ambiguity. But according to NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, there is a scientific sense in which a relatively new, secular “religion” of “social justice” is entrenching itself among students on America’s campuses. He’s got a cogent point. ITO has run several pieces about Haidt’s ideas before.
The Real Reason Students Should Study Philosophy
Isn’t philosophy supposed to help people live well, not just exercise the mind? That was the ancient view. The evidence is clear that exposure to philosophical questions, ideas, and dialogue at an early age improves academic outcomes generally, and in particular cultivates the skills needed for reasoned dialogue. (Intellectual Takeout has posted several pieces to that effect; see here, here, and here.) But if that were all there is to it, we’d be reducing philosophy to its utility value.
Why We Should Stop Referring to the Brain as a Computer
If you study the long history of science, it’s striking how the thought of each age is dominated by some-or-other ruling metaphor that eventually gives way to another. That’s especially true when it comes to explaining human intelligence.
Don’t Find Yourself, Overcome Yourself
Selves are not found; they are created. That’s the perennially valid message of some ancient Chinese philosophers, according to the book The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life, by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh, a journalist with a PhD in East Asian history who studied under Puett.
Study: Teaching Kids Philosophy Makes Them Smarter
Does teaching younger children philosophy make them smarter? A “large, well-designed study” conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that the answer is yes.
Study: Teaching Kids Philosophy Makes Them Smarter
A “large, well-designed study” conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that the answer is yes. That positive effect was found to have lasted for two years after the philosophy class concluded. The teaching program used in the study is the same as has been used in many other places: “The program the EEF used, called P4C (“Philosophy For Children”), was designed by professor Matthew Lipman in New Jersey in the 1970s to teach thinking skills through philosophical dialogue.
Unhappy? It Might Be a Sign of Intelligence
We’ve all either heard or posed the question: If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? But a more appropriate question might be, If you’re so smart, why aren’t you happy? An article last month in the business section of The Atlantic tackles that question in an interview with Raj Raghunathan, author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?, a book released in April.
Liberals Are Starting to Notice Liberal Intolerance
William F. Buckley once observed, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” Buckley said that in the 1960s, but it is truer today on college campuses than ever. Even liberals are beginning to notice. A few months ago I posted about how an NYU social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, had noticed the lack of ideological diversity on university faculties in the humanities and social sciences.
The Actual ‘Sword in the Stone’?
Even if you haven’t actually read a version of the legend of King Arthur, you’ve probably seen one of the movies or TV miniseries about it. I well remember the least serious: the 1963 animated Disney classic The Sword in the Stone, which many children from then on have also seen. We just don’t have a clear factual basis for the character of King Arthur. But it looks like there is a factual basis for one part of the Arthurian legend that took shape and got embellished during the Middle Ages.
Why Gwyneth Paltrow is Wrong About Nearly Everything
I admit I laughed hard when I stumbled on this joke by Warren Holstein a few months ago: I laughed so hard because the joke skewers so accurately. And we actually have scientific backing for the fun Holstein had with (1) and (2). This article from ThinkProgress.org yesterday borrows the title of a book that was published a little over a year ago: Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash.
The Logical Fallacy of ‘Hasty Counter-Example’
If you’ve taken a course in “critical thinking”—or even just had an excellent teacher in high school or college—chances are you’ve heard of “the fallacy of hasty generalization.” There’s also the logically converse fallacy, which is equally common but unlabeled and often confused with the first. I call it that of “hasty counter-example.” For the sake of clear thinking, good science, and even public policy, it, too, calls for an explanation as well as a name.
Study: Architecture Affects Your Brain
A scientific study conducted several years ago found that the sorts of architecture once typical of “museums, churches, and libraries” has measurable effects on brain function that are similar in some ways to traditional forms of meditation. That’s potentially very significant, not only for the small elite that designs such buildings today, but for the countless people who use them.
The Logical Fallacy of 'Hasty Counter-Example'
If you’ve taken a course in “critical thinking”—or even just had an excellent teacher in high school or college—chances are you’ve heard of “the fallacy of hasty generalization.” There’s also the logically converse fallacy, which is equally common but unlabeled and often confused with the first. I call it that of “hasty counter-example.” For the sake of clear thinking, good science, and even public policy, it, too, calls for an explanation as well as a name.
Why Some of Us Work So Hard
We’ve all heard the admonitions about “workaholism”: how some people sacrifice not just fun, but also family life and even their own lives, by working insane hours when they don’t really have to. And all of us also know people who work very long hours not because they’re workaholics, but because they don’t get paid nearly enough to work less while paying their bills.
Intellectual Work Begins in Ecstasy
“Intellectual work begins in ecstasy.” That was not said by a drug-addled artist, as one might expect. It was soberly asserted by one of the last people you’d think of: a Dominican “friar” and priest who died decades ago, having lived his life mostly in study, prayer, poverty, chastity, and obedience. His name was Antonin Sertillanges, and he developed that thought in a book called The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods, first published in 1920 and republished many times since.
Here’s Why Robots Will Never Achieve Consciousness
You know the doomsday movie scenarios: An army of robots we’ve made to serve us decides to enslave or even replace the inefficient, refractory human race, and to that end wages a pitiless war of extermination on us. But is all that mere sensationalism? It would be flippant to dismiss the possibility.
Why We’re Headed for a ‘Nanny State’
Americans love freedom. Or so they like to say. So why do we have more and more laws and an ever-expanding public sector? Why is our behavior increasingly regulated and restricted at almost every level? Why, in other words, is the state becoming our nanny? Our Daniel Lattier answered the first question last month: We are evolving away from being a “virtue-based” to a “rule-based” society.
When ‘Science Guys’ Try to Philosophize, It Gets Messy
Many of you have probably heard of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” He had a TV show by that name back in the mid-90s. He can boast of real accomplishments as an inventor, entertainer, and explainer of science to the lay person. He knows a lot. So why does he get philosophy so wrong? For anybody with a serious education in philosophy, this video from his “Tuesdays with Bill” series offers up a gold mine of fallacies, half-truths, vacuity, and plain historical ignorance of the subject.
When ‘Science Guys’ Try to Philosophize, It Gets Messy
Many of you have probably heard of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” He had a TV show by that name back in the mid-90s. He can boast of real accomplishments as an inventor, entertainer, and explainer of science to the lay person. He knows a lot. So why does he get philosophy so wrong? For anybody with a serious education in philosophy, this video from his “Tuesdays with Bill” series offers up a gold mine of fallacies, half-truths, vacuity, and plain historical ignorance of the subject.
So You Believe There's Right and Wrong... But Why?
Unless you’re a moral relativist, you believe that there are right and wrong actions. But there then remains the question: why do you believe that some actions are right while others are wrong? When it comes to answering it, you most likely adhere to either a “teleological” or “deontological” theory of morals. For the sake of keeping this post short, I’ll stick with a brief explanation of teleological theories.
The Problem with Moral Relativism
Whether you realize it or not, you probably adhere to a particular moral theory. If you formally studied ethics in college or later, chances are you know what your moral theory is. But even if you didn’t, it’s useful to bring your moral theory to full light so that it can be honestly considered and evaluated. That’s part of what critical thinking is for. Two of the more popular are deontological and teleological theories.
Why Political Debate Today is Incoherent
Among political philosophers, the most common critique of “liberalism” (not to be confused with modern “liberalism”) is not its concern for liberty, fairness, tolerance, and related values, but its public promotion of such values without recourse to any underlying, philosophical view of reality.
Atheist Philosopher Describes His Fascinating Near-Death Experience
Most students of philosophy will recognize the name of A.J. Ayer, who died in 1989. An atheist, he was one of the best-known representatives of a school of thought known as “logical positivism,” which holds (among other things) that religious claims are meaningless because they are not empirically verifiable. It’s therefore interesting to note that Ayer, a year before his own death, reported having a near-death experience.
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