metonymy4u

this is the effect of building gothic cathedrals with such high ceilings: so that you would come inside and automatically look up: filled with awe at a marvel of architecture, and remembering god.

hume said that an idea is nothing more than a re-created memory. that we create our ideas every time we think them. that they start in sense perception and fade from there. that knowledge as enduring understanding is an illusion. kant agreed, and added though that just because thought is contingent, does not mean we aren’t aware of useful patterns. the river still flows in navigable runs.

scalia’s doctrine of textual limitation of judicial discretion is nothing more than an attempt to ensconce his own brand of power. because when he convinces others not to be guided by the supporting documents attendant upon the original creation of a statute, it actually gives him more leeway in the interpretation of that statute. textualism is an intellectual trojan horse. designed to weaken the power of others and amplify his own. it is a very cleverly concealed form of judicial activism, and the oldest trick in the book: appearing to denounce the very doctrine which he secretly supports (for himself alone, of course).