Articles from ‘Independent News Roundup’ in ‘Philosophy’

Sympathy for the Devil

Independent News Roundup • Philosophy • 4 Apr 2026

People have always done the devil's work under the illusion that they are doing good. · John Leake · Iago very precisely identifies his purposes and his motives as being black and born of hate. But no; that’s not the way it is! To do evil a human being must first of all believe what he’s doing is good . . . · Macbeth’s self-justifications were feeble—and his conscience devoured him. Yes, even Iago was a little lamb too. The…

The Devil's Dialectic

Independent News Roundup • Philosophy • 15 Jan 2026

"He who fights with monsters must see to it that he doesn't thereby become a monster." · John Leake · A few years before he died in 1999, Alexander von Üxküll-Gyllenband lived just down the street from me in Vienna. He was the first cousin of Claus von Stauffenberg, who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. · I occasionally had afternoon tea with him in his modest apartment, and we talked about history and…

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