From STEVE HEDLEY
Sloppy thinking is no doubt at least as common among arts graduates
as among science graduates; I only wish Peter Holway would turn his attention
to sloppy thinking as such, rather than indulging in it himself (‘Hang first,
ask questions later’, Forum, 23 February).
He claims that arts graduates are not interested in evidence and ‘proves’
this by telling an anecdote of a failed attempt to teach basic science method
to some sixth-formers. He then jumps to recent debates on capital punishment
in the House of Commons, insinuating that Douglas Hurd and Kenneth Baker
produced duff arguments on deterrence because they are arts graduates, rather
than (as I had naively supposed) because they knew they were about to lose
the vote and so were saying what their supporters wanted to hear, rather
than making an argument likely to convince.
Are science graduates significantly less pro-hanging than arts graduates?
I would also be interested to hear why Holway thinks capital punishment
was abolished 25 years ago and has been consistently rejected since, if
the only argument is over deterrence, and our arts-dominated politicians
are too stupid to understand the figures.
Steve Hedley University of Cambridge
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