Entries by Colin McGinn
Authoritarian Future
Authoritarian Future What proportion of people who voted for Trump would support his overthrow of electoral democracy in his favor? Nearly all. The evidence is overwhelming. That way they get what they want without the inconvenience of democracy. Democracy is an instrumental value not an intrinsic value, so they support it only when it gives […]
Education and Error
Education and Error In education we seek to impart knowledge to the student. The logic of the process is additive: we add to the student’s stock of knowledge. But this has not always been the way education has been conceived: sometimes the aim is to subtract something—not knowledge, to be sure, but error. That was […]
Democrats and Republicans
Democrats and Republicans Do you want to hear what’s wrong with contemporary party politics in America? Do you want to know what the root of the problem is? I am going to tell you—and you won’t like it. The Republican party is the party of winning and success. The Democratic party is the party of […]
Darwin’s Worms
Darwin’s Worms I happen to be reading Charles Darwin’s The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. I’ve already read The Origin of Species, The Voyage of the Beagle, and The Descent of Man—all excellent books—but I thought it would be nice to round out my Darwin reading with this lesser-known work. It’s […]
Are the Laws of Psychology Necessary?
Are the Laws of psychology Necessary? There are laws of physics and laws of psychology, but are these laws of the same kind? Of course, they are about different things, but do they have the same modal status? Are they both nomologically necessary? The laws of physics are: they are universal and unalterable by human […]