‘MORE recently, historians have tended to see the [English] Revolution [of 1640] in terms less of horizontal divisions between classes and more of vertical divisions, cultural and ideological, running through all strata of society.” (John Miller, TLS 14 December) REVIEWING The New Cambridge History of India Vol IV Pt 1, by Paul R. Brass, Geoffrey… read more »
The series running under this title has a dual theme; that the eidodynamic movements tend to split while the eidostatic ones do not. The “tend” matters; it is not being suggested that all eidodynamic movements are always splitting while all eidostatic ones enjoy perpetual internecine peace Anarchists are often able to operate in small groups… read more »
During the past two years socialists have suffered some of their worst disappointments. From the time of Robert Owen apparent achievements bad often proven hollow, but with first the Russian Revolution and later the victory of Mao and his comrades, with one country after another coming under the rule of bodies flying the Marxist banner… read more »
RATIONALISTS complain that less attention is paid to them than to the exponents of religion. Perhaps if a rationalist were to get himself crucified and buried, and rise again after three days? MARIE Sara, a Parisienne and the only top-ranking woman bullfighter, has killed fifty of the animals The Brigitte Bardot Foundation regards her as… read more »
Beyond Politics presents a view of evolution in which the outcome is not merely the final term but the whole system leading to it. Thus the outcome of biological evolution comprises not merely humanity but the whole range of species with their interactions, the outcome of ideological evolution not just any one ideology but the… read more »
The Church of England has been described as the Tory Party at prayer, and the connection between nonconformism and liberalism is hardly less close. Both refuse comfortable compliance, displaying a cross-grained determination to get things right, both insist on freedom of thought and conscience yet hold back from fundamental interference with accepted relationships; as liberalism… read more »
Now Available: Beyond Politics; An Outline of Systematic Ideology by George Walford. IC has long admired the courage of the journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute; it holds firmly to its title, and is now issuing T-shirts bearing it in bold letters: MAN. Four-letter words are bad enough, but a three-letter one! “NEW York is… read more »
Winner, 2013 George Walford International Essay Prize. In an evolutionary context, a belief in the supernatural is costly. Evolutionary cost refers to anything that reduces an individual’s eventual reproductive success from what that individual would otherwise achieve. Such cost includes unnecessary practices that either neglect or consume resources that otherwise could be used provision oneself… read more »
A big problem in systematic ideology, and one that seems likely to be with us for a while yet, is to pin down the first appearance of each of the major ideologies. Not just their emergence as enduring political movements but their truly first appearance, first in any field. It seems probable that even the… read more »
RATIONALISTS convinced that religion is on the way out might bear in mind that the world’s largest human gathering is still the pilgrimage to Allahabad that takes place every twelve years. Some 15 million people gather for ritual bathing. JOHN Chadwick, QC, is quoted: “Secrecy is the badge of fraud.” (Observer 29 July) It is… read more »