C.S. Peirce, “Pragmatism and Pragmaticism” (1903).
In all the works on pedagogy that ever I read — and they have been many, big, and heavy — I don’t remember that any one has advocated a system of teaching by practical jokes, mostly cruel. That, however, describes the method of our great teacher, Experience.
France held an election over the weekend. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen came out on top, and will face each other in a runoff on May 7th.
Current polling puts Macron over Le Pen, 62-38. But a SkyNews reporter cautions: there is no certainty.
We in America have reason to respect that cautionary note. Our last election was an upset against the establishment candidate in favor of a wild card often dubbed “far right” and even “fascist” — which is precisely what Ms. Le Pen is being called.
Indeed, pitting a Big Government “centrist” (Macron) against an anti-immigrant protectionist (Le Pen) in the context of an economic slump and rising terrorism, and with neither candidate having much contact with limited-government principle, eerily echoes the 2016 U.S. presidential race.
But, on closer inspection, the parallels between the American and French contests appear inexact. Macron’s En Marche ! party* was created just over a year ago, while Le Pen’s National Front has continually found itself on the margins of power, despite its rise in popularity.**
Still, it is hard not to suspect that Ms. Le Pen could come from behind to upset the status quo. Macron is not invulnerable. The man worked, after all, in Hollande’s government, and Le Pen has characterized him as a socialist in a snazzy suit.
Macron is way ahead in the polls. And TV experts talk about how reliable modern polling is, while we in America . . . snicker.
But, since France lacks an Electoral College, can Le Pen really “Trump” the odds?
France will be in for a bumpy fortnight.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
* Amusingly, the party’s initials are identical to those of its founder, Emmanuel Macron. “En Marche !” (the extra space is there in party material) translates into English as “Forward!” or “On the Move!” and is formally designated as the Association pour le renouvellement de la vie politique (the Association for the Renewal of Politics).
** All the established, formerly governing parties are on the outs.
The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust.
Samuel Butler, Notebooks (1951).
On April 24, 1792, the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” was composed by Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
Eight years later to the day, the United States Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.
Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, with a majority of Supreme Court justices having been appointed by GOP presidents.
Why so little progress?
Well, during six of the eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency, Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress. And what did they do? Added a new entitlement, Medicare Part D, and kept the federal money-go-round swirling at breakneck speed. Additionally, the Roberts Court, a majority appointed by Republican presidents, managed to contort its way to upholding Obamacare.
And at the state level? The politics, more solidly Republican; the results, more decidedly ambiguous. Click on over to Townhall. Then come back here. For more perspective.
On April 23, 1968, students at New York City’s Columbia University held a demonstration to protest military research and the condemnation of part of the neighboring Morningside Heights section of Harlem to make way for a new student gymnasium. The protest escalated into a week-long occupation of five campus buildings before police moved in. Some 712 students were arrested, and over 100 injured during the forcible eviction. After the university-ordered police response, a student strike shut down the campus for the rest of the semester.
Lauren Southern, late of Rebel Media, makes her point with some concision:
Caution: some sarcasm may be involved.
On April 22, 1724, philosopher Immanuel Kant was born.
Aside from being the pre-eminent modern philosopher and originator of transcendental idealism, Kant was also a major figure of Enlightenment thought, a classical liberal, and the originator of the notion of the Categorial Imperative. He was an early and important astronomical theorist in his early career, but produced his greatest works towards the end of his life, including The Critique of Pure Reason and The Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. He was also author of the 1795 essay “Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch.”
Arthur Schopenhauer is widely known as an admiring and astute critic of Kant’s thought, while philosophical opponents include Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. Kant’s approach to ethics continues to excite interest today, with some of the revival a result of the work of John Rawls.
Kant died on February 12, 1804, in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), where he had lived the bulk of his life.
The first formulation of “the pragmatic maxim,” by C.S. Peirce, “How to Make Our Ideas Clear,” Popular Science Monthly, v. 12 (January 1878), pp. 286-302.
Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.
A state vast and powerful enough to enforce socialism is an irresistable temptation to those who would abuse power. . .
as has been demonstrated again and again and again.