Western morality is based on 10 very old and very good rules for living: the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments (sometimes known as the Decalogue, or “Ten Words,” are the commands given by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai, which Moses brought down the mountain engraved on two stone tablets. These commands address the central issues of human…

Commentary Towards the beginning of “Nineteen-Eighty-Four,” George Orwell has his unhappy protagonist Winston Smith jot down what he describes as an “axiom.” “Freedom,” he writes, “is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows.” That seemingly simple, in reality deep, observation is akin to Bishop Butler’s…

Commentary Toward the beginning of “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” George Orwell has his unhappy protagonist Winston Smith jot down what he describes as an “axiom.” “Freedom,” he writes, “is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” That seemingly simple, in reality, deep, observation is akin to Bishop…