On Rousseau’s View of Education

“The noblest work of education is to make a reasoning man, and we expect to train a young child by making him reason! This is beginning at the end; this is making an instrument of a result. If children understood how to reason they would not need to be educated.” – J.-J. Rousseau, excerpt from […]

On Torture

“Death: Suppose a terrorist has hidden an atomic bomb on Manhattan Island which will detonate at noon on July 4 unless… (here follow the usual demands for money and release of his friends from jail.) Suppose, further, that he is caught at 10 a.m. of the fateful day, but—preferring death to failure— won’t disclose where […]