Digressions&Impressions

Scientific Pragmatism Confronts Political Realism (Nagel vs Morgenthau)

Mr. Morgenthau's positive proposals as to how social problems ought to be approached exhibit an irresponsible romanticism. He rejects "scientism" because its universalist conception of social laws is allegedly unhistorical--though alre...

On the Hierarchies of Professional Philosophy

[Unlike most nearly all other Digressions, this essay was initially solicited and so lacks attention to my own participation and rewards in what I describe.--ES] Professional philosophy in the Anglophone world, and those areas that take...

Should Policy Relevant Researchers Stay Out of Politics?

To lock yourself up in an ivory tower is impossible and undesirable. To yield subjectively, not merely to a party machine, but even to a group ideology, is to destroy yourself as a writer. We feel this dilemma to be a painful one, beca...