Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

Was JPMorganChase manipulating the price of silver and/.or silver futures in the markets in 2010-11? I submit that the question is one of historical importance, not of importance merely to the parties directly involved in the litigation captioned above. Further, I expect that a trial on this question will aid the historians of posterity, bringing to light valuable data on this point, and thus on the significance of precious metals as a Magoffin in the post-Crisis financial world. If you're a law student, and are taking the Civil Pro course, dear reader, this case might also be a valuable introduction for you into the vagaries of pleadings law. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-lawsuit-silver-idUSKBN15G4Z   But let's get back to the point: WHY is this case of historical importance? It may clarify judges and parties' attitudes toward the traditional Precious metals, gold predominantly but silver as well, once thought of as the paradigmatic form of Money. ...

"Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of the storm-tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply the spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endanger its cargo. In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it has made war more terrible than it ever was before. Man used to be content to slaughter his fellow men on a single plane--the earth's surface. Science has taught him to go down into the water and shoot up from below and to go up into the clouds and shoot down from above, thus making the battlefield three times as bloody as it was before; but science does not teach brotherly love. Science has made war so hellish that civilization was about to commit suicide; and...

Ciceronianus has a fascinating post up about H.L. Mencken, a guy who could inspire many of them. I wonder if young people still regularly read (or see performed in some form) the old play/movie Inherit the Wind ? For many of my generation, anyway, an interest in Mencken was first roused by the character based upon him in this play, E.K. Hornbeck , memorably played by Gene Kelly. (Yes, a non-dancing dramatic role by the Gene Kelly) in the 1960 movie. Hornbeck is not written as an admirable character. We're supposed to side with Henry Drummond/Spencer Tracy/Clarence Darrow after all, (how can one not side with Spencer Tracy??) and we're supposed to see Hornbeck as being as much a dogmatist as Brady/Bryan, though a dogmatist of a contrary dogma. The Bryanesque character, by the way, was played by Frederick March. William James, the titular figure and presiding genius of this blog, once referred to his own philosophical goal as ensuring a safe space between "t...