Conservative Environmentalism

A great article on the the climate change movement and its unfounded arguments,

Conservatives often affirm that creating alarm over alleged global warming is meant to lead to another attempt at collectivist control of our lives. They say that radical environmentalism is the new communism. This makes sense but I think it misses two marks. First, it makes it sound as if the attempt would be innocent enough if only it failed. Second, it implies a certain conscious cynicism on the part of proponents of the climate change view of the world. I think both assumptions are wrong and that it matters that they are wrong.

The religious cult of climate change generates fervent belief in its followers and it will have done our society much damage even if they fail utterly to impose on us the massive socio-economic transformations toward global poverty they pursue. Its applications are ridden with large, crude errors: Today’s Wall Street Journal (10/29/09) mentions an article in the…

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The Evidence of the Senses now available for FREE ONLINE

I have GREAT NEWS for all Philosophy fans!!!

“David Kelley‘s classic, The Evidence of the Senses, is now available on Scribd.com FOR FREE! The Scribd platform allows you to search the book, share it with friends, print it, download it, read it online, copy and paste text from it, and comment or communicate with others reading the book.

About The Evidence of the Senses:
In this highly original defense of realism, David Kelley argues that perception is the discrimination of objects as entities, that the awareness of these objects is direct, and that perception is a reliable foundation forempirical knowledge. His argument relies on the basic principle of the “primacy of existence,” in opposition to Cartesian representationalism and Kantian idealism.

In the first part of the book, Kelley discusses the nature and validity of perception. He argues against classical sensationalist and modern computational theories, according to which perception involves inferences from sensory input. Unlike most realists, he also offers an in-depth consideration of the problems of perceptual relativity. His theory incorporates a key distinction between the object and the form in which it is perceived. This distinction provides insights into the status of phenomenal qualities, the nature of perceptual constancy, and the difference between primary and secondary qualities.

In the second part of the book, Kelley is concerned with the way we distinguish conceptual knowledge from perception. His theory of non-propositional justification shows how perceptual judgments are supported by the direct awareness of objects, and it allows a novel defense of empiricism.

An original and substantial contribution to the philosophical literature, this book will be invaluable to philosophers, psychologists, and anyone interested in the complex subject of perceptual theory.”

Read The Evidence of the Senses now >

Find more about Atlas Society and David Kelley’s work now >

Executive master’s in European Journalism, IHECS Brussels

Recent economic and political turmoil has shaken the European Union to its foundations and at the same time has demonstrated how the EU has grown in importance, and how its politics affect so many aspects of the daily lives of its citizens. But for many of those citizens, the EU remains remote. The way it works is often difficult to grasp, and the interactions between its institutions, with their different roles and powers, are not immediately apparent. The complexities are increased by the fact that the EU is evolving all the time.
Journalists have a major role in boosting EU’s citizens understanding of what is at stake – despite all the intricacies. They can:

– help citizens understand the EU’s integration and decision making processes;
– empower them to exert influence on European affairs
– provide information on what the EU does, and how it affects citizens’ lives
– explain complex debates and conflicting opinions

To equip journalists with the tools for these tasks, IHECS, an official Brussels-based high school, runs a pioneering executive Master in European Journalism. This is a one-year full-time daytime course, beginning in September. The course is structured around project learning and multiple partnerships with European bodies. The teaching component runs from September through to April. In April, May and June students complete their end-of-course assignments.

The highlights of the Master are:

– Workshops led by recognised professional journalists from across Europe who combine first-class teaching with practical experience in the field.
– Small class size (maximum 20 students)
– In the heart of Europe, close to the EU institutions
– Contacts with stakeholders
– Numerous media projects
– In- the-field investigations
– Constant contact with professionals

http://www.ihecs.be/masters-europeens/european-journalism/

CONTACT Person:
Laure Englebert
laure.englebert@ galilee.be
+32 2 549 55 37

via: Executive master’s in European Journalism, IHECS Brussels

The Global Politics of the Diaoyu Islands

china-vs-japan-cartoon-01-598x473 — By Bryant Arnold. via:http://www.cartoonaday.com/china-vs-japan-at-sea/

As The Japanese government’s moved to purchase the Diaoyu Islands (also known as Senkaku Islands) three days ago the government of the People’s Republic of China reacted energetically. Initially, Chinese media reporters influenced mediatic understanding of the situation by emphasizing the nationalization of the islands by Japan (ringing the history bells to Chinese people on how Japan had previously nationalized Manchuria and renamed it as the puppet state of Manchukuo during the WW2 period). And later, by making strong diplomatic statements on how Chinese sovereignty and control of the islands had been violated by the Japanese purchase.

The purchase of the islands is of relevance regionally and globally. Why China, Japan, and S. Korea aren’t backing down on this islands should be understood by taking a look at the map and see how the position of the islands is central for the passage of containers and oil that comes all the way from Middle East via the Strait of Malacca. A route that is of priority importance for China and which I explored in the essay “The Strait of Malacca as one of the most important geopolitical regions for the People’s Republic of China” which ca be read in pdf at Academia.edu for free.

Locally, the geography of the islands is meaningless. The island group consists of five uninhabited islets and three barren rocks which zooming out are located approximately 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, 200 nautical miles east of the Chinese mainland and 200 nautical miles southwest of the Japanese island of Okinawa. And which zooming out are in the center of the route of all the containers that go to the ports of East and North East China, of which the most important is Shangai.

The Japanese central government formally annexed the islets on 14 January 1895. And after WW2 they were occupied by the United States. The islets were later returned to Japan during the 70s and it was only until the last two decades that they became of relevance as the People’s Republic of China started to project is New Economic and Global Plans for economic sustainable expansion. Plans in which they have invested billions of dollars in military expansion, naval trade/military shipbuilding, regional economic investment via state-owned companies and diplomatic sovereignty claims all over the region.

The islands are officially Japanese territory, but as Chinese official statements continue being broadcasted they claim a violation of sovereignty that could takes decades to be resolved via a diplomatic arbitrage and/or scalate to more direct military statements and naval occupations of the beaches of the islets.

Whoever said that trade is the most (or only) pacific way of organizing society should reconsider this evaluations when thinking about how global trade works and on how diplomatic and economic control of trade routes is sometimes more powerful and dangerous than a bunch of battleships.

The Book WE have been waiting for is finally here!!!

I have GREAT NEWS for all Philosophy fans! One of the books I have been awaiting for is finally published!

The first time I heard about this book was in a conference I attended by Dr. Peikoff’s at OCON 2010 in which he identified three different modes of integration, i.e., of interrelating concretes, such as individual percepts, facts, choices, story events, etc. As Dr. Peikoff explained:

“My thesis is that the dominant trends in every key area can be defined by their leaders’ policy toward integration. They are against it (Disintegration, D); they are for it, if it conforms to Nature (Integration, I); they are for it, if it conforms to a Super-Nature (Misintegration, M).” The book—focusing on literature, physics, education and politics—demonstrates the power of these three modes in shaping Western culture and history.

Here is more information about how to get the book,

In what some critics are calling his masterpiece, Leonard Peikoff, renowned philosopher and author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, argues that it is the human mind that makes all the difference—specifically, the ways we are taught to process and integrate information. He finds three and only three processes at work, each dominant in different periods, and each paving the way for the next.

From this perspective, The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out surveys, from Greece to the present, four broad fields of human culture—literature, physics, education, and politics—and develops his strikingly original interpretation of the nature and history of the West.

Extrapolating from the historical pattern he identifies, Peikoff is able to explain why the lights of the West are going out—and to predict the most likely future for the United States.

Read more about Dr. Peikoff’s The DIM Hypothesis, or buy the book now.