One of Dalrymple’s many impressive skills is the ability to pinpoint the philosophical assumptions that drive human behavior. Today’s entry in City Journal addresses the related (though more obvious) phenomenon of Freudian slips.

I am not much of a Freudian, but I think that good old Sigmund was on to something when he suggested that small slips of the tongue could sometimes reveal the way people think. For example, when British police spokesmen talk to the press about murders, they often use words like “senseless” or “pointless” to describe them. This suggests that they think some murders are sensible or reasonable…