Ron DeSantis (1978) Florida politician
DeSantis Takes New Approach to Term Limits https://desantis.house.gov/press-releases?ID=CE85F6D8-D64B-4278-B99C-FF03D323DE2C (May 4, 2015)
Appendix: "On Intellectual Craftsmanship"
The Sociological Imagination (1959)
Ron DeSantis (1978) Florida politician
DeSantis Takes New Approach to Term Limits https://desantis.house.gov/press-releases?ID=CE85F6D8-D64B-4278-B99C-FF03D323DE2C (May 4, 2015)
“I must have God on my own terms, because God on somebody else’s terms is an idol.”
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
Source: "Quotes", The "Third Book" Notebooks of Northrop Frye, 1964–1972 (2002), p. 61
“[H]ere we come to the nub of the issue: the alleged moral force of the term "natural."”
David Pearce (philosopher) (1959) British transhumanist
If any creature, by its very nature, causes terrible suffering, albeit unwittingly, is it morally wrong to change that nature? If a civilised human were to come to believe s/he had been committing acts that caused grievous pain for no good reason, then s/he would stop - and want other moral agents to prevent the recurrence of such behaviour. May we assume that the same would be true of a lion, if the lion were morally and cognitively "uplifted" so as to understand the ramifications of what (s)he was doing? Or a house cat tormenting a mouse? Or indeed a human sociopath?<br><br>" Reprogramming Predators https://www.hedweb.com/abolitionist-project/reprogramming-predators.html", BLTC Research, 2009
Alex Salmond (1954) Scottish National Party politician and former First Minister of Scotland
Context: I do have a strong faith and always have had, I’m not a regular churchgoer now but I’m in church a lot – to do readings, to attend events and so on. I had a strong church upbringing which I think has been invaluable to me in terms of a moral compass – of some idea of what’s acceptable and what is not acceptable. I have a Presbyterian nature in that I like its ideas of individual responsibility and democracy. I’m naturally suspicious of people who wear religion heavily on their sleeves – that’s just not me and my style.
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) American marine biologist and conservationist
Speech accepting the John Burroughs Medal (April 1952); also in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999) edited by Linda Lear, p. 96
Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator
Source: Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millenium (1997), Chapter 14, "The Common Enemy"
Context: Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism.
Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist
Source: 2010s, The Moral Landscape (2010), p. 53