Philosophy Now Forum

vegetariantaxidermy --- Calm down. This is what you wrote: I meant to write 'nag'. It's just a nasty label men give women who find it difficult to deal with men's unreasonable and selfish behaviour. What does it really mean? In other words, what you are saying is that whenever a man calls a woman a...

vegetariantaxidermy --- As a woman, when there is an altercation between husband and wife, you naturally side with the woman to say the man is to blame (she’s only nagging him because he is selfish and unreasonable). As a man, I have the same response in reverse. Take domestic violence. My perspect...

vegetariantaxidermy --- You say, “better to encounter a nag than a serial killer or a paedophile”, and this is obviously true. But what are the odds? Everyone has been a nag, at one time or another, while the numbers of killers and paedophiles are relatively few. I would say nagging is the more ser...

Philosophy Explorer --- Brute is a derogatory word almost exclusively applied to men, like thug, barbarian, lout, swine, ogre, bastard. Accordingly, it must be very rare for women to be brutish. There are of course equivalent derogatory words for women, but for different sorts of behaviour -- femal...

Walker --- I know nothing about Rupert Sheldrake’s ideas on evolution, but I would regard them with deep suspicion. He is a charlatan concerning the effects of being looked at -- claiming that people can detect when others are looking at them, even when the observation is via a video camera. I woul...

Mr. -1- --- you are too complacent: creationist teaching is creeping in here in the UK, partly due to the influence of charismatic churches. And why do you decline to identify the USA as particularly sinful in this regard? Scientific American in August said that 45% of biology teachers in the US ei...

Necromancer --- The creationists are right on two counts. First, if you believe you know the truth then it is right to do your utmost to spread the news. If non-creationists were half as sure of themselves as the creationists, then their opinion on evolution would hold sway in every school. Second,...

Philosophy Now --- Derrida’s principal purpose is to tie everybody’s brains up in knots so he can derogate men and boost women without you noticing. His ‘deconstructionism’ is the deconstruction of man, using terms like ‘phallocentric dogmatism’ (men think with their sexual organs). When I put this...

Philosophy Explorer --- The vast majority of the world is intent on covering it up, but there are vast differences between the male and female brain, some of which you identify. There is just one woman in the top 100 grand masters of chess, for example. For solid evolutionary reasons (differential ...

Dubious --- I disagree that we are equally disgusting. Once again it is a sexist question: what do men find disgusting, what do women find disgusting? Most men long to be sexually harassed, whereas many women find it disgusting behaviour. The average man finds the average woman averagely attractive...

henry quirk --- I like you too, and I am very grateful for your input, but I do question the advisability of filling the pages of these topics with insults. It may not harm you or Lacewing, but think of the influence on everybody else: I think it detracts from the sincere comments from other people...

henry quirk & Lacewing --- Children, children, quieten down -- there are serious events afoot. It looks as if my Suffrageur Society website will go live in a week or two. You may not think this is exactly earth-shattering news, but for me it is an event of a lifetime: I’ve been waiting 22 years...

FlashDangerpants --- Yes, it’s my address, but I don’t think I’m risking much. I published everything when I was editing on Wikipedia, including the phone number of the local police station, for someone to phone if they really wanted to give me a problem. And yet nobody ever took advantage -- even ...

Kayla --- The problem is the sex war is hidden, instead of being fought out in the open. This makes women hyper-sensitive to insults (worried that men may attack), and men hyper-nervous of saying anything wrong (worried about being sanctioned). Accordingly, when two or three men get together, they ...

henry quirk --- I won’t discuss Lacewing, as per my reasoning on the other topic. Disciplining children is a tough one. I can see how ignoring tantrums can work eventually, but isn’t a bit of a torture -- both for him and you? I found instant punishment worked like a miracle, up to the age of 9; th...