the philosophers’

magazine issue 34 • 2nd quarter 2006

reporter 4news hound news, plus straw poll and mediawatch

11ID carded Intelligent Design is not science – official

14omnivoreScottMcLemeeonRichardPryor

15bird brains do penguins prove God’s existence?

18word of mouse Luciano Floridi on an ITentity crisis thoughts 19common sense David Papineau calls for less of it

26sci-phiwhat’sthemeaningof“life”?

28Locke’s USA why Locke is the nation’s philosopher

32provocationslookinggood,feelinggood

33gratitudewhyeventhegodlessneedit forum 39Ted Honderich an interview on punishment, terror and regicide

45torturewhatthejustificationsmiss

49lethal politics Simon Critchley on the Bush administration

53roundtableourpaneldiscussesthepoliticalresponsetoterror

61outlawsAntonyDuff on why no one is outside the law

65national unity Richard Dees on how to get it, and why

69bully boys? the ethics of assymetric war discussion 73Roger-Pol Droit capturing the mystery of the everyday

76my philosophy novelist Salley Vickers the lowdown 79the directory listings for UK and North America

80snapshotthelowdown on Bertrand Russell

82conceptualcarveryunfeasibleclarityondefeasibility

83theory of knowledge the ninth in the series inducts us to the ways of reasoning review 85new books Schiller, the enlightenment, the religious and more last words 92Bertrand’sbreakfunandgames

94lettersdefenders of Persig rally round

96the skeptic this issue’s column is gluten and lactose free subscriptions & TPM shop page 38

The Philosophers' Magazine/2nd quarter 2006 Here at TPM, we believe in offering you a fair and balanced reflection of the philosophical viewpoints fighting in the ongoing battle of ideas. If you want to dispute that, however, there is plenty in this issue to provide you with ammunition.

For one thing, our focus is and always has been more on Anglo-American philosophy, and the non-English speaking variety beloved of it, than it has on what is nefariously described as “continental” philosophy. Our coverage of Eastern philosophy is even thinner, though not nonexistent.

But more glaringly, in this issue you’ll find both our news features (see p11 & p15) reporting on Intelligent Design theory from a less than sympathetic perspective. In one, we look at how the US courts have decided that it is religion, not science, and in the other we discover philosophers generally dismissive of the claims made by it. Where then is the balance in that, you might ask? It’s a good question, and the obvious answer the philosophers’

magazine

98 Mulgrave Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 6LZ, UK Tel: 020 8643 1504 Fax: 0709 237 6412 editor@philosophers.co.uk www.philosophersnet.com Editors Julian Baggini (print edition)

Jeremy Stangroom (new media)

Deputy editor Ophelia Benson Reviews Editor Jonathan Derbyshire reviews@philosophers.co.uk

Contributing Editors Susan Dwyer, Simon Eassom, Peter Fosl, Michael LaBossiere, Jeff Mason, Christopher Norris, Christian Perring Illustrations/Graphics Felix Bennett (cover), Jerry Bird, Molly Crabapple, Pipo di Bressana, Michael LaBossiere, Gareth Southwell. Contributors’ Notes Contact the editor to submit proposals. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Contributors Ronald Aronson, Christopher Brooke, Peter Cave, Simon Critchley, Richard Dees, Antony Duff, Luciano Floridi, Peter S Fosl, Jason Gaiger, Wendy Grossman, John Holbo, Mathew Iredale, Michael LaBossiere, David is that we should not confuse presenting both sides of a debate as equals with fair and balanced reporting. Sometimes, one side of an argument is just far better supported than the other, and to present both as being somehow equal would be a huge distortion.

Such is the case with Intelligent Design. Of course, there are intelligent folk who back it, but the overwhelming majority of philosophers and scientists think it is bunkum. Our idea of fair and balanced reporting is to reflect this in our coverage. That’s not to say we won’t countenance approving views, it’s just that we do not feel obliged to match them one-for-one with opposing ones.

Similarly, our skew towards Anglo-American philosophy simply reflects the intellectual world well we draw from. But this, in contrast, does not imply we think it superior. It simply reflects the state of philosophy in our main countries of distribution, for better or worse.

Luban, Scott McLemee, Duncan Pritchard, David Rodin, Mark Vernon, Jonathan Walmsley. Distribution by (UK) Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN Tel: 020 8986 4854 (North America) Ingram Periodicals Inc., 1240 Heil Quaker Blvd., La Vergne, TN 37086-7000; Tel: (615) 793 5522; Ubiquity Distributors Inc., 607 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Tel: (718) 875 5491 Printed by UK: Warwick Printing, Leamington Spa CV31 1QD US: Sheridan Books, Ann Arbor, MI48103 With thanks to Denis Collins, George Leaman, The Rainnies, Pam Swope. Subscriptions UK: 01442 879097 North America: 1 800 444 2419 See page 38 for full details

© 2006, The Philosophers’ Magazine and contributors

ISSN 1354-814X

All views expressed in The Philosophers’ Magazine represent those of the authors of each article and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or publishers.

The Philosophers' Magazine/2nd quarter 2006