Art is not truth; art is a lie that enables us to recognize truth.[1] The law is the least artistic medium ever devised by humankind. After all, the law is society’s super ego to art’s id, and the legal system… Read More ›
Articles
Articles are stand-alone contributions to SERRC.
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It”, Kenneth R. Westphal
In August 1787, directly following the close of the Constitutional Convention (USA), Maryland delegate to this convention, James McHenry, recorded this significant exchange between Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Willing Powel: A lady asked Dr. Franklin: ‘Well Doctor, what have we… Read More ›
Misunderstanding the Human and the Divine, Ljiljana Radenović
In the last years of socialism and my third year of high school in late 1980s Yugoslavia, my logic teacher asked the class why people believe in God. The question was received with silence. I do not remember who came… Read More ›
Honesty is the Best Policy: Why the Science of Vaccination Matters, Des Hewitt
In recent weeks and months SERRC has published a number of contentious articles and replies which focus on vaccines: vaccines which combat COVID-19. Making the latter statement so definitively makes me suspect my writing will be taken by readers as… Read More ›
The Salvation of the State is in Watchfulness of the Citizens: A Reply to Ahmed Bouzid, Lee Basham
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ― Eric Blair[1] In this brief note we examine an interesting if perhaps unusual reply to Kurtis Hagen’s, “Vaccination and Intellectual Honesty: Reflections on a Theme in Recent… Read More ›
What is to be Done with Eurasianism—or the ‘Promised Heartland’—as Someone Who is a Real Eurasian? Andrey Ivanov
The problem with ‘Eurasianism’ as an idea in Russia (Fuller 2022) boils down both to the words ‘Euro’ and ‘Asia’ and to their ordering. Do Russians actually identify themselves as a part of Europe or Asia? Do they have any… Read More ›
Weaving Faith into a Moral Life, Ljiljana Radenović
Many philosophers have tried to define the moral thing to do in a challenging (either possible or fully imaginary) situation. Should we lie to the murderer about the whereabouts of his potential victim? Kant says: ‘No, we should not!’ Should… Read More ›
Vaccination and Intellectual Honesty: Reflections on a Theme in Recent SERRC Articles, Kurtis Hagen
Should we be honest about vaccines? That is a serious question. Common sense says that “honesty is the best policy,” and I maintain that topics related to vaccination are not exceptional in this regard. However, some serious and well-intentioned people… Read More ›
The Three Problems of Robots and AI, Joffrey Becker
Using examples from an ethnographic survey I conducted with manufacturers, researchers and users of so-called intelligent systems, this paper seeks to show that the relationship between humans and machines raises at least three categories of problems. The first one refers… Read More ›
A Few Words on #Trust, Patricia Wong
I am not a philosopher. I am a mathematician. I have taught mathematics for more than 30 years, and so, when it comes to knowledge, I am comfortable only where certainty can be obtained, or, if it cannot be obtained,… Read More ›