Monday, January 04, 2016

Links of Note, Noted and Linked

* Michael Flynn has an excellent discussion of the slippery slope fallacy, focusing specifically on how it works in practical contexts.

* David Braine, The Inner Jewishness of John's Gospel as the Clue to the Inner Jewishness of Jesus

* J. Budziszewski on the causes of loss of faith.

* Theresa Kenney on the celebration of Christmas in Jane Austen's Emma

* Paul Raymont on Timothy Dewar Weldon.

* Robert Audi defends moral perception.

* Medieval use of automata in devotional practices.

* Tasneem Zehra Husain discusses James Maxwell's philosophy of science. Maxwell's philosophy of science was very Whewellian, as he himself occasionally remarks. Menachem Fisch has a good discussion of this particular aspect of Maxwell's philosophy of science.

* The scribes of the Codex Sinaiticus

* Some discussion of a recently rediscovered recording of C. S. Lewis; the British had invaded Iceland (then part of the Kingdom of Denmark) in response to the Nazi invasion of Denmark. In the wake of this, Lewis was asked to deliver a talk on Icelandic literature for Icelandic radio, and he spoke on "The Norse Spirit in English Literature".

* How Elmo ruined Sesame Street.

* Kristján Kristjánsson on Awe: Part I, Part II

* Brian Skinner, Field Theory of Swords

* The report of a recent investigation into a purported miracle in Utah. It concluded negatively, as most such investigations do; it's interesting as an example of how these things are investigated today.

* Blacksmith Trenton Tye of Purgatory Ironworks responds to arguments that jet fuel fires could not have melted the steel in the Twin Towers:



As he notes, steel softens from fire long before it actually melts.

* An article on the Vatican Mosaic Studio. If you ever look at the economic profile of Vatican City State, mosaics are its primary productive industry after collectibles (like stamps), and this is because it has the oldest and most sophisticated mosaic workshop in the world.

* The Christmas Price Index for 2015 was up 0.6%. The Christmas Price Index is the price of the Twelve Days of Christmas, as given in the song; for 2015 the cumulative price of all the gifts was $155,407.18.

* G. K. Chesterton and Distributism in Sierra Leone