What is Biological Sex ?

Perhaps you “know” what is “biological sex”, perhaps you still wonder after the deluge of strong affirmations that «sex is a spectrum» coming from the woke quarter. Here is something of use: the transcripts of an expert testimony in a case before of Texas appellate court. Truly enlightening. Before you start reading, some additional info:– […]

Rights and privileges, the reign of confusion

by Patrick Moreau, Le Devoir, Friday July 28th, 2023 Rights and privileges should not be confused. Rights, in particular “human rights”, are freedoms granted to all citizens of Quebec and Canada; these shared rights are a fundamental condition of the equality that must reign among citizens in a democracy. A privilege, on the other hand, […]

The sex of our angels

From Jean-François Lisée’s blog Published on 06/19/2023     Translated from French by DeepL and verified by Michel Virard        Image distributed to teachers by the CSQ (TN: Centrale des Syndicats du Québec – mostly a teachers and health workers union). Sex education has made a strong comeback in our schools. Well done. But it’s accompanied by the […]

The misadventures of slavery in New France

Comments on Brette Rushforth 2012 book, by Jean-François Lisée Le Devoir, June 30th, 2023  (TN: bold highlining is mine) At first, the native slaves bought by French settlers almost all ran away. Other settlers told them that slavery was illegal in France and New France*. So they could leave. He (Rushforth) describes the strong interaction […]

The fight against Islamophobia is a smoke screen

By Nadia El-Mabrouk* & François Dugué Letter to Le Devoir, March 29, 2023 When the position of Canadian representative against Islamophobia was announced, many of us pointed out the abusive and militant use of this term, which confuses respect for people of Muslim conviction with absolute respect for the precepts of Islam. The latest Angus […]

Another step forward from Quebec

By Marie-Andrée Chouinard Editorial. February 18th, 2023 With the introduction this week of Bill 11 on medical assistance in dying (MA), Quebec is continuing a tradition of changes proposed on the basis of wise expertise and prudence, all for the good of suffering people who wish to die with dignity. By extending the eligibility criteria […]

Wokism cannot ignore critical pluralism

Each year, in the section Le Devoir de philo, we publish an abridged version of the winning text of the Philosopher contest, which is held in the (Quebec) college network. For the 2022 edition, the question was: Is the future woke? Reda Hessi Student at Jean-de-Brébeuf College Le Devoir, January 14th, 2023 “Stay woke”, warned […]

Security and dignity, new pretexts for censorship

Patrick Moreau is a professor of literature in Montreal, editor-in-chief of the journal Argument and essayist. His publications include “Ces mots qui pensent à notre place” (These words that think for us – Liber, 2017) and “La prose d’Alain Grandbois, ou lire et relire Les voyages de Marco Polo” (Nota bene, 2019). Le Devoir, January […]

Unrest at the university

By Normand Baillargeon * Le Devoir, Montréal, January 15th, 2023 I am currently editing lectures given by my dear Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) in 1950. In them he addresses the question of the philosophical and political conception of the individual. He inspires me to reflect on what I consider to be some troubling aspects of current […]

A plea for respectful robustness

By Jean-François Lisée Le Devoir, January 4th, 2023 I have read many political programmes in my life and helped to write some of them. However, I had never come across a sentence like this: “We agree to disagree: our opponents are not our enemies.“ Nor had I come across any variation of the following statement: […]