19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
The Philosopher's Solace
...how admirably calculated is this view of the human race, emancipated from its chains, released alike from the dominion of chance, as well as from that of the enemies of its progress, and advancing with a firm and indeviate step in the paths of truth, to console the philosopher lamenting the errors, the flagrant acts of injustice, the crimes with which the earth is still polluted? It is the contemplation of this prospect that rewards him for all his efforts to assist the progress of reason ... 1 
notes
notesThe unstoppable perfectibility of the human race is almost a law of the Universe that no injustice in the present can undo.
19 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
Summary of Postmodernism
The teaching that there is no objective reality, but rather many subjec¬ tive realities, or in this case, that the subjective realities are on an equal par with the objective reality (you're dead!) in turn influences students' views of the primacy of knowledge. To critics, history is no longer the search for what really happened, but rather the victor's interpretation as seen through the lens of power and oppression, and it bears a cultural and political focus. Literature is no longer a stud...Folksonomies: postmodernism post modernism
Folksonomies: postmodernism post modernism
1 The relativity of knowledge.
08 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
George Washington Promotes Science and Literature
Nor am I less persuaded, that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of Science and Literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of Government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the Community as in ours it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways: By convincing those who are...
1 As the keys to happiness and to preserve liberty.
06 AUG 2012 by ideonexus
A Positive View of Human Progress
And how admirably calculated is this view of the human race, emancipated from its chains, released alike from the dominion of chance, as well as from that of the enemies of its progress, and advancing with a firm and indeviate step in the paths of truth, to console the philosopher lamenting the errors, the flagrant acts of injustice, the crimes with which the earth is still polluted? It is the contemplation of this prospect that rewards him for all his efforts to assist the progress of reason...Folksonomies: philosophy optimism
Folksonomies: philosophy optimism
If civilization is ever-improving, then the philosophe can take heart that all the wickedness and ignorance they witness in their lifetimes mean nothing, because the good works will survive and carry on into a better future.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
William Lawrence on the Need for Free Science
Lawrence eventually went on to broaden his attack. Science, he argued, had an autonomous right to express its views fearlessly and objectively, without interference from Church or state. It must avoid ‘clouds of fears and hopes, desires and aversions’. It must ‘discern objects clearly’ and shun ‘intellectual mist’. It must dispel myth and dissipate ‘absurd fables’.19 The world of scientific research was wholly independent. ‘The theological doctrine of the soul, and its separ...Folksonomies: freedom scientific integrity
Folksonomies: freedom scientific integrity
1 notes
notesScience must operate without fear of oppression or reaction from authorities.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Taxonomy as Colonial Imperialism
Coleridge pointed to this difference between an organising taxonomy and a dynamic scientific principle or law in essays in The Friend (1819). The psychology of collecting, ordering and naming specimens could also be seen as a form of mental colonising and empire-building. ‘Taxonomy after all, is a form of imperialism. During the nineteenth century, when British naval surveys were flooding London with specimens to be classified, inserting them in their proper niches in the Linnaean hierarchy... 1 notes
notesBritish scientists renaming species that were already named by the native inhabitants of the colonies as a form of oppression.
30 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Honorable Description of Thomas Addis
Injustice or oppression in the next street...or any spot inhabited by men was a personal affront to Thomas Addis and his name, from its early alphabetical place, was conspicuous on lists of sponsors of scores of organizations fighting for democracy and against fascism. He worked on more committees than could reasonably have been expected of so busy a man... Tom Addis was happy to have a hand in bringing to the organization of society some of the logic of science and to further that understand... 1 notes
notesThe man was a humanist, charitable and sponsor of organizations fighting for democracy.
10 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Freedom
The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations; The grave is burst, the spices shed, the linen wrapped up; The bones of death, the cov’ring clay, the sinews shrunk & dry’d Reviving shake, inspiring move, breathing, awakening, Spring like redeemed captives when their bonds & bars are burst. Let the slave grinding at the mill run out into the field, Let him look up into the heavens & laugh in the bright air; Let the inchained soul, shut up in darkness and...Folksonomies: totalitarianism oppression
Folksonomies: totalitarianism oppression
1 notes
notesBlake describes freedom from oppression.
18 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Washington Promotes Science and Education
...there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways: by convincing those who are entrusted with the public administration, that every valuable ... 1 notes
notesIn order to ensure a strong democracy.
01 JAN 2010 by ideonexus
How Do Artists Make Money in a World of "Free"
Obviously we must balance our desire for free stuff with a concern for work. but the open-source software tradition, our final authority on all social questions these days, has little to say about labor, oppression, compensation or collective bargaining. The supposed liberation heralded by those who promote free culture is winner-takes-all; exploit or be exploited, as long as you share your code. Anderson concedes this point, acknowledging that we "measure success in terms of creation of vast...Folksonomies: creative commons
Folksonomies: creative commons
1 notes
notesIt's easy for Google, buzzword-techno-Utopians, and progressives to estole the virtues of free media online, where copyrights are being broken down and everyone is producing free content because they love to do so, but artists still need to make a living. Media corporations are still getting rich, and software pirates are promoting their goods while trading them for free online. While google makes billions on indexing content, while those producing the content make nothing. What is the solution to this?
