See, Why I’m a Progressive, Peter Boghossian, Substack, Sep 17, 2026. Millions of people in Africa and South Asia want a better life – in some cases even just a slightly safer one – and so they do what they… Read More ›
Angst
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: PART TWO
What do humans have that an AI replacement doesn’t? Well, a body for one thing. Okay, so let’s give it one. What does a human have that an AI-driven robot doesn’t? A certain kind of body, namely a human one…. Read More ›
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: PART ONE
For most of human history, literacy bestowed power. Power bestows privilege. And so, not surprisingly, the rarity of literacy was assiduously – sometimes even violently – protected. Once women can read … Once our slaves can … Can the same… Read More ›
FROM THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS FILE
Well no, that can’t be right. If a thought were unthinkable I couldn’t think it, and if I couldn’t think it I couldn’t blog about it. On the other hand, by unthinkable I can’t just mean distasteful or unseemly. So… Read More ›
LIVING WITH THE JUDGMENT OF OTHERS
I’m a lone gunman, and I kill someone because and only because he’s black, or Indian, or Jewish, or Palestinian. Have I committed genocide? Clearly not. Suppose there’s a number of us, and we kill a number of people because… Read More ›
WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?
I suppose I could get someone to brush my teeth, but it’s actually easier if I do it myself. But there are things I can’t do for myself, like get at that damn knot in the middle of my back…. Read More ›
TAKING SIDES
It’s hard sometimes for students of history to remember they’re also living in history. That I’m no exception I find embarrassing. I’m embarrassed because I’m upset about Ukraine and Palestine. But why? National borders change with the alacrity of the… Read More ›
THE PERILS OF ASSOCIATIVE THINKING
Every liberator will eventually become a tyrant. He has to, because otherwise – or so he tells himself – the forces of the counter-revolution will reassert themselves. It happened with Robespierre, with Stalin, with Mussolini. It happened with Mao and… Read More ›
IT’S A LITTLE KNOWN FACT THAT …
When someone initiates a conversation with “It’s a little known fact that …”, what he typically means is that there’s something he knows, but his interlocutor probably does not. But I want to bring our attention to another use of… Read More ›
ANTISEMITISM
There’s a pattern of fallacious reasoning in political discourse – I don’t know what to call it, but I’m open to suggestions – that goes like this. 1) If I refuse – and I do – to condemn the Hamas… Read More ›
