One of the themes in my Philosophy of Politics courses (Part 1, Part 2) is the vast gulf between the Continental and Anglo-American traditions over the desirability of war and peace. Relevant to that discussion are these quotations from Nietzsche on war: Why war is necessary: “War essential. It is vain rhapsodizing and sentimentality to […]
Friedrich Nietzsche on the necessity of war Read More »
How well do entrepreneurial success traits (creative rationality, initiative, courage, perseverance, and so on) map onto virtue ethics? An audio edition [mp3] of my 2009 essay “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” [pdf], first published in Journal of Private Enterprise. Or at YouTube: Abstract: Entrepreneurship is increasingly studied as a fundamental and foundational economic
Audio edition: What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship Read More »
Reprising this on why some cultures become great explorers and others stay home: the role of metaphysics. “And as for trying to sail down the west African coast, everyone knew that as soon as you passed the Canary Islands you would be in the Mare Tenebroso, the Sea of Darkness: ‘In the medieval imagination [writes
On the dangers of exploration — medieval version Read More »
[Reposting from July, 2012, and with this update on the controversy over Hochschild’s book: Gilley critiques and Hochschild responds.] One of the most outrageous evils of the 19th and early 20th centuries was Leopold II of Belgium’s rape of the Congo. The story is well told by Adam Hochschild in King Leopold’s Ghost. King Leopold
*King Leopold’s Ghost* — slavery in the Congo Read More »
Syphilis is thought to have been brought back from America by Christopher Columbus’s fellow travelers. In Europe, it first manifested in Naples and so came to be called “the disease of Naples,” though most Italians came to call it the “French Pox.” As it made its way across Europe and then Asia, syphilis acquired a
Syphilis and friendly ethnic relations Read More »
A quotation about this academic, who lived a long, comfortable life in England justifying the theory and practice of communism.
Eric Hobsbawm is dead Read More »
As part of an invited lecture series, I led several seminars on the topic The Best Arguments against Free-market Capitalism. The format is Socratic and the participants are professors at my host, Francisco Marroquín University. In this second seminar, we take up the arguments that: a) We live in a world of scarce resources, and
Two anti-capitalist arguments: scarcity and depravity (UFM seminar) Read More »
[Warning in this litigious age: Humor ahead.] Those of us with artistic sensibilities often find it a challenge to communicate (and commune with) our revolutionary artistic credos using totally inadequate bourgeois concepts. So my comrade in arms, George Plumley, sent me a very helpful link: The Market-O-Matic (1.0) [fine arts version]. The results are in.
Artistic slogan generator Read More »