Professor Matthew Ogilvie

(Warning: Distressing graphic images below) NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Some silly things have been said this week in response to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern’s appeal to the Taliban was one of the worst and probably deserves a gold medal for naivete. Ardern called on the Taliban to respect the “human rights and the safety of their people.” She also asked them to care for “the wellbeing of women and girls.” She said some other things that made it sound like she was trying to recruit Taliban members into the warm politically correct embrace of the New Zealand Labor Party. Ardern is certainly not alone. A Professor at McGill University called on the UN to ensure that the Taliban respect women and girls, include women in peace negotiations, and make an enduring commitment to women’s rights. Ardern and the Professor are well-intentioned. No reasonable and ethical person could disagree with wanting to uphold women’s rights. The problem is that...

One would imagine that the core business of a university is education. After all, students go to university to learn critical thinking, acquire wisdom and develop skills with the intention of becoming leaders in society and being gainfully employed professionals. However, a speech by Hon Alan Tudge , Australia’s Federal Minister for Education , highlights the perception that many Australian Universities are neglecting their core mission.  Hon Alan Tudge, Minister for Education The minister reminded us that, “Our public universities were initially established for one purpose: to educate Australians.” But he then complained that, “In the past several months, I have had almost every Vice-Chancellor talk to me about research and international students, but not many talk to me about their ambitions for Australian students.” The minister articulated what many in academia have complained about for years; that at many universities, undergraduate education has been neglected, in terms of b...

In 2014 A F Branco published this gem .  Image credit, A F Branco   https://legalinsurrection.com/2014/07/branco-cartoon-crash-of-civilization/ In case one suspects that there's some exaggeration of the Hamas demands, there's this quote from the Hamas Covenant .  The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." Killing Jews around the world remains a core mission of Hamas. For example, in 2019 a senior Hamas leader called on his "brothers ," "Seven million Palestinians outside, enough warming up, you have Jews with you in every place. You should attack every Jew possible in all the world ...

Aristotle uses the word “philia” for friendship, but he notes that there are three sorts of friendship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#/media/File:Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg   The first is “friendship” of utility, It’s where you use someone to get something from them and they use us to get something. So, I can be “friends” with a car dealer. I get a car from him, he gets my money.   The second is common interests. So I can be “friends” with people on my football team, my political party or my workmates.   The third and highest form of friendship is that which fosters virtue. This is where two people live for the good of each other and make each other better people. So, in my most important friendship, my wife makes me a better employee, she encourages me to be better at sport and she makes me a better friend to other people.   Aristotle provides a powerful set of criteria for evaluating “friendships.”   *Is this person “friends” with me because they ...