Two Cheers for Inconsistency? : Orwell’s Doublethink
How concerned should we be about consistency? The answer if you were George Orwell would seem to be not very much. Orwell was, to use one of his own phrases, a “change-of-heart man.”
Ask OUP: we answer your questions about US elections
In September, we asked our followers to send us questions regarding the U.S. midterm elections using the hashtag #AskOUP. We compiled a list of our favorite questions, and answered them below.
Oxford Think Festival: 10th – 18th November 2018
Oxford University Press is delighted to once again partner with Blackwell’s Oxford to host a weekend of talks and discussions. After three successful years as the Oxford Philosophy Festival, the event returns this year as the Oxford Think Festival.
Financial capability for all
Millions of U.S. families find themselves in precarious financial circumstances, living on the wrong side of the growing income and wealth divide. Despite the recent economic recovery, average wages buy about the same amount of goods and services as they did 40 years ago. The federal minimum wage, adjusting for inflation, buys less today than it did in 1968. Income increases have mostly gone to top income earners. Meanwhile, household wealth is even more concentrated.
Consent on campus minisode [podcast]
As students head back to university to start their fall semester, the conversation of consent will no doubt surround them on campus. But what can actually be defined as consent? Where do students learn what consent actually means? On this minisode of The Oxford Comment, we hop on a call with Jes Lukes, co-owner of “A Room of One’s Own” an independent book store in the heart of college town Madison, Wisconsin.
Are you an informed voter? [quiz]
With the 2018 U.S. midterm elections quickly approaching, it’s important that Americans feel prepared to enter the voting booths. To help our U.S. readers feel better prepared on election day, we created a quiz to test your knowledge on key political issues.
Serena redux: waiting to exhale
By now, much has been written about the Serena Williams-Naomi Osaka-Carlos Ramos fiasco at the 2018 US Open. During the women’s final, the umpire, Carlos Ramos, issued Williams a warning for suspected coaching from her player’s box.
John Kerry and the Logan Act
The Logan Act won’t go away. Most recently, prominent commentators criticized former Secretary of State John Kerry’s conversations with the leaders of Iran, arguing that such discussions violated the Logan Act.
Renewing the Centre?
Have recent events – notably the election (and re-election) of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour party following the Conservative victory in the 2015 general election, and the 2016 vote to leave the EU leading to a ‘hard Brexit’ strategy from the Conservative government – revitalised British politics by breaking from the centrist politics […]
Dignified debates: a better way to argue about politics
Rebecca Roache expressed a common feeling when in 2015 she blogged, “I am tired of reasoned debate about politics.” Many people today find arguments unpleasant and useless. That attitude is both sad and dangerous because we cannot solve our social problems together if we know that we disagree but do not understand why. Luckily, arguments can help us accomplish a lot even in extreme cases.
Humanities and scientific explanation: the need for change
For too long, presentations of science for the general public, and education in schools, has suggested that science wields a sort of hegemonic power, as if its terms and methods gradually replace and make redundant all other discourse; the only reason it has not yet completed its conquest is that the world is complicated—but it is only a matter of time…
Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with author, professor, and social worker, Melvin Delgado
Born and raised in the South, Bronx by Puerto Rican parents, Melvin Delgado’s research and work has centered on the strengths of communities of color in urban areas. He’s written extensively on social work with Latinos, social justice and youth practice, and most recently the sanctuary movement. We asked Dr. Delgado to answer some of our questions about social work with the Latinx community to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month.
The wisdom of Henry Clay: advice for the modern-day politician
Henry Clay succeeded as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Secretary of State, leader of his party in the Senate, and as “The Great Compromiser.” But most of all, he was a political model for generations. In that capacity, his words speak to us still.
Consent on campus [podcast]
As students head back to university to start their fall semester, the conversation of consent will no doubt surround them on campus. But what can actually be defined as consent? Where do students learn what consent actually means? From the time of adolescence, students are taught the notion of consent, which impacts how they view the term in their later life.
2018 Midterm Elections HQ | Oxford University Press
The United States midterm elections will decide who controls the Senate and House during the remaining years of the Trump Administration’s first term. In order for the Democrats to gain control over the House, they would need to see a net gain of 24 seats. To regain control of the Senate, Democrats would need to keep all of their seats and capture two of the Republican seats for a 51-49 majority. Of the seats up for election, 35 are held by Democrats, and 9 are held by Republicans. We’ve pulled together a collection of related books, articles, and social media content to help our readers better understand these elections. Be sure to check back each week, and follow our hashtag #BallotReady for more Midterms 2018 content.
Paradigms lost, wisdom gained
Tycho Brahe lived with a hand-crafted nose made of brass after his real one was sliced off in a duel. Mr. Brahe was a renowned 16th-century Danish astronomer and a great empirical scientist whose data were used to formulate Johannes Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion. But for our purposes, Tycho Brahe is especially interesting for something other than his prosthetic schnoz or his contributions to astronomy, but for a notable mistake. Confronted with his own irrefutable evidence that the known planets of his day (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) revolved around the Sun, Brahe was nonetheless committed to the prevailing biblical view of a geocentric universe. So he devised an ingenious model in which those planets indeed revolved around the Sun … but with the resulting conglomeration obediently circling a central and immobile Earth!