A Fragment on Government

Improvement and Repair: Architecture, Romance and the Politics of Gothic, 1790–1817

“…Architectural debates between the years 1790 and 1817, I point out, became the site of a politically fraught debate between conservatives, bent upon the maintenance of ancient Gothic precedents, and progressives, variously intent upon dismantling or modernising Gothic structures, architectural and otherwise, to suit present needs. As I argue in the final section of this essay, it was also through their perceptions of the architectural remains of the ‘Gothic’ age that politicians (Edmund Burke; Jeremy Bentham; John Thelwall; Mary Wollstonecraft); aestheticians (James Wyatt; John Carter); essayists (Hannah More); and novelists (Ann Radcliffe; Charlotte Smith) of the period staged particular attitudes towards the medieval past, negotiating, through their architectural preoccupations, the legacy of the nation’s Gothic inheritance while interrogating its possible use and function in the present.…”

Some ethical issues regarding xenotransfusion

“…Useless suffering is rejected, but necessary pain is apparently acceptable [16]. Utilitarianism, an animal-liberation movement, is based on the ability of animals to experience pain and suffering [17,18]; excluding animal rights is a form of discrimination called ''speciesism'' [19][20][21].…”

Judicial Can't

“…It is what Lord Bacon calls setting the whole house on fire, in order to roast one man's egg. 12 Bentham's position is obviously extreme. His concerns about the destabilizing effects of Common Law revision are certainly exaggerated, and his rigid policy of following judicial precedent decidedly impractical.…”