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"In the life of the academic mind, the owl of Minerva seldom flies as early as the dusk."
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John Gray (philosopher)If we are to put interrogators to work in defence of liberal values, t — John Gray (philosopher)
"If we are to put interrogators to work in defence of liberal values, their role in the community must receive proper recognition. They will require intensive counselling to overcome the inevitable traumas that this difficult work involves. They must be enabled to see themselves as dedicated workers in the cause of progress. Psychotherapy must be available to help them avoid the negative self-image from which some torturers have suffered in the past."
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John Gray (philosopher)
John Gray (philosopher)
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John Nicholas Gray is an English political philosopher and author with interests in analytic philosophy, the history of ideas and philosophical pessimism. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to The Guardian, UnHerd, The Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman, where he is the lead boo
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"Liberals tend to regard being subjects of the Queen as an insult to their dignity. But at least the archaic structures by which we are ruled do not force us to define ourselves by blood, soil or faith, and we are protected from the poisonous politics of identity."
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John Gray (philosopher)Quote
"Terror is not now, if it ever was, something that comes to us from outside. It is a part of the society in which we live. Both liberals and neoconservatives believe terrorism can be dealt with by removing its causes. The truth is less reassuring. Al-Qaeda has mutated into a decentralised, often locally based type of apocalyptic terrorism and, in this new guise, seems to be acquiring a formidable momentum."
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John Gray (philosopher)Quote
"Blair has been the modern man he claims to be: for him, a sense of subjective certainty is all that is needed for an action to be right. If deception is needed to realise the providential design, it cannot be truly deceitful."
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John Gray (philosopher)Quote
"If you want to understand the beliefs that are shaping global politics, read the Book of Revelation."
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John Gray (philosopher)Quote
"I may not be as unambiguously hostile to capitalism as many people are, but what I dont like about it is the commodification of personal experiences, it turns everyone into actors."
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John Gray (philosopher)