Category: 216
Original Artwork
Original Artwork by Carol Matthews. It is easy to see that American democracy often makes mistakes in the choice of men to whom it entrusts power, but it is not so easy to say why the state [...]
In the News… The Burden of Office
The orderly functioning of society seems to require that certain powers are ceded to some individuals, on the implicit if not explicit understanding that those given such powers are meant to [...]
EDITORIAL: The Abuse of Power (2)
The common saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely has never struck me as quite right. Certainly we see the corrupt employment of power, perhaps never so dramatical [...]
Poetry Section
Poets provide us with unique and insightful perspectives on matters of human importance. In a departure for Humanist Perspectives, we offer here some voices of poets on our theme of Abuse o [...]
Power, Love and Listening: an Observation of Shakespeare’s Drama
The urge to gain or hold onto power over other people is a prominent motive for the characters in Shakespeare’s plays, as it is in many – if not most – aspects of human life. Shakespeare’s k [...]
Does Donald Trump Read Shakespeare?
Donald Trump did not invent abuse of power. Four hundred years ago, the greatest of all writers recognized that the ways power is applied in human relationships is central to life, liberty a [...]
The Value of Studying Philosophy
The development office of my alma mater contacted me early last March about leaving the university some money in my will. My undergraduate adventure was decades ago and I’m nearing retiremen [...]
Some Observations on Machiavelli’s The Prince
We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do. For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with the columbine innocency, except m [...]
How to Find Abuses of Power
When we think about abuse of power, most of us, including me, find ourselves in the position of the Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1958 to 1981, Potter Stewart, wh [...]
THE ROBERT LATIMER CASE: TEN COMMON MISREPRESENTATIONS
Vocal minorities have at times served a useful social purpose in bringing injustices to public attention, as in the Black Lives Matter movement. At other times, however, they have, caused gr [...]
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