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From the archives

Dangerous Grounds

Coming soon to a democracy near you

The Collapse of Syria

The story of a nation’s unravelling, one neighbourhood at a time

Trompe Le Toil

The modern conundrum of overwork

Charles Blattberg

Charles Blattberg is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. His latest book is a novel, The Adventurous Young Philosopher Theo Hoshen of Toronto (Angst Patrol, 2013).

Articles by
Charles Blattberg

The Mystic versus the Politician

A new book explores the creative paradox of the mahatma October 2013
Here is an important, but disturbing, book about Gandhi. It is important because it offers an interpretation that runs against the grain of the “domesticated” Gandhi that can be found in a tradition of books that includes Joan V. Bondurant’s Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, Bhikhu Parekh’s Gandhi’s Political Philosophy: A Critical Examination and Ramin Jahanbegloo’s recent The Gandhian Moment

The Problem with Neutrality

It’s wrong to be even-handed when children’s lives are at stake April 2011
It was only when I became a parent that I truly came to know fear. There are powerful instincts behind one’s sense of protectiveness, to be sure, but also much more than that. There is also, of course, one’s love for the child, as well as, unlike with the others you love, an awareness of the child’s utter innocence and…

The Real Tariq Ramadan

A Catholic theologian’s portrait of the controversial Islamic thinker. January–February 2010
In November 2003, an extraordinary exchange was broadcast on French television. Nicolas Sarkozy, who would soon become president, was debating Tariq Ramadan, the controversial Swiss-born Muslim theologian. At one point Sarkozy attempted to throw Ramadan off balance by challenging him on his position on the “monstrous” view—held by Ramadan’s brother, among others—that Muslim law requires the stoning of adulterous…

Bad Faith?

A prominent scholar, rabbi, and government appointee claims that same-sex marriage is unjust July–August 2009
A conversational response to an ethical or political conflict sounds like something relaxed and congenial. In fact, few things are more challenging, for the interlocutors must be truly willing to listen to each other, and hence be open to making sometimes radical transformations of their own positions. It goes almost without saying that this challenge is especially acute in a multicultural democracy such as…