image: io9.com After my last post, discussing the question of morals and values existing independently of God, I was left wondering if there was one moral, or value, or distinctive ethical attribute, which we could say defines the human. Which we could even say, is the essence of the human. I believe we have […]
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The Existence of Morals and Values Without God.
Harper’s Bazaar On 21st January 2017, as part of their ‘Belief and Beyond Belief Festival,’ the Southbank Centre organised a weekend of talks and discussions titled ‘The Search for the Meaning of Life’. At a couple of the sessions, though worded differently, a common question was asked by several participants. Boiled down, it went like […]
Democracy and Dictator Trump
(photo: Business Insider) On the eve of a momentous presidential election in the United States, ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear from – Immanuel Kant. “Only two things inspire genuine awe: the starry sky above and the moral law within.” Kant went on to define a good will, as part of this moral law […]
Fiction and Identity Politics
www.newsmax.com Fiction and Identity Politics? Since Lionel Shriver’s speech on the subject at the Brisbane Writers Festival, old ghosts have risen and new imperatives exalted. I’m a fiction writer (novels and short stories), and yet when people ask me what I write about, I go speechless – I stutter, stumble and nervously laugh off […]
Killing the Creative – in Creative Writing Courses
image from fast-web.com These days, creative writing courses are offered by so many universities, publishing houses, newspapers or literary agencies, you can’t order a cappuccino without tripping over one or open a newspaper without being invited to go for publishing stardom. So ubiquitous is their presence and acceptance, we’re in serious danger of forgetting that […]
No Country for Bold Women
Reposted from ‘Action For a Progressive Pakistan’ The title comes from Twitter user @BilawalKhoso ***PLEASE SIGN THIS STATEMENT HERE.*** We, the undersigned, condemn the murder of Qandeel Baloch by her brother, Waseem, and demand that the government put the alleged killer on trial. Qandeel, born Fouzia Azeem, was a rebel, an artist, and a gutsy feminist provocateur. […]
Trump, Trust and Governance
gettyimages-5086450001.jpg “Although it tends to get lost in the showbusiness of electioneering, politics is ultimately about governance.” (Professor Philip Bobbit writing about the […]
Arranged Marriage Detectives
First published Huffington Post 5.4.2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ravinder-randhawa/arranged-marriage_b_9609408.html My elderly parents tell this story about how some marriages were arranged in their time: ‘if the girl next in line to be married wasn’t very pretty, when the boy’s family came to see her, they’d show them the prettiest daughter, but actually marry off the other girl. […]