Two Ships Passing at High Noon: Alasdair MacIntyre & Raymond Geuss

I’ve written a new piece about two philosophers – Raymond Geuss and the late Alasdair MacIntyre – for the Marginalia Review of Books. There’s no paywall. You can read it here:
https://www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/two-ships-passing-at-high-noon-alasdair-macintyre-raymond-geuss

Thinking More Clearly About the Idea of “Rights”

I have a new piece out for Current Affairs about rights, and whether we ought to think of them as natural, human, or civil. You can read it here:

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/05/thinking-more-clearly-about-the-idea-of-rights/

Why Richard Dawkins Fails to Appreciate Plato

The other day, Richard Dawkins had a go at Plato:

Surprised by common reverence for Plato. Alexandrians like Eratosthenes made superb progress. But what did Plato say that was actually right? And didn’t he mislead generations of theologians & philosophers into thinking you could find truth by making stuff up in an armchair?

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) December 16, 2019

It’s not the first time. Dawkins has a thing for picking on Plato. He said this back in March:

Philosophy is “a series of footnotes to Plato” (Whitehead)

Plato “thought of vision as due not to light entering but rather to particles shooting out of the eyes” (R Gregory, Eye & Brain)

Why didn’t he settle it with a simple experiment? Because experiments aren’t philosophy?

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 6, 2019

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