Strength without Mercy: Winston Churchill on Technology and the Fate of Civilization

Abstract

Churchill's lifelong meditation on scientific progress led him to search for ways in which its transformative power could be moderated and guided for the preservation of civilization. The increasing role of scientific discovery and technological innovation in maximizing the destructive potential of warfare, Churchill believed, had brought a moment of decision for humanity: Whether to foster and maintain the moral and political principles that formed the foundation of civilized life or to trust wholly in an amoral science. He found guidance in the study of the humanities, Anglo-American constitutionalism, and Christian ethics.     

James Joyce: Steps towards a Diagnosis

Authors whose scholarship is in the golden realm of English literature have not hesitated to make pronouncements on James Joyce’s health. A publication in this genre claims he had tabes dorsalis. One feels that an authoritative comment, accepting or rejecting a diagnosis of neurosyphilis, should be provided by the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences.     

George W. Bush's City on a Hill

This paper explores the various and sometimes contradictory meanings of the metaphor of A City on a Hill, with an emphasis on how such an investigation can contribute to an understanding of the foreign policy of George W. Bush, especially in terms of the War on Terrorism in general and the war in Iraq in particular. The strands within the metaphor include religious, political, economic, and technological dimensions which too often exacerbate the confusions about national self-image many Americans have about our role in the world and about what has been called the right-wing Wilsonianism of the Bush White House. Greater clarity about the role of this metaphor in our history might help in minimizing what can fittingly be called the law of unintended consequences.