Reprising this from when I read Deirdre McCloskey’s fascinating, intriguing, and wonderfully learned The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (University of Chicago Press, 2006). Early on McCloskey cites three statistics about progress between 1800 and now: Wealth: “The amount of goods and services produced and consumed by the average person on the […]
Why life is 255 times better now than in 1800 Read More »
Refreshing this story from Francis Kane, professor of philosophy and former colleague of Professor George Walsh at Salisbury State University, in a eulogy delivered November 21, 2001. The phone rang one Friday afternoon (I’ll never forget): “Fran, I’m going to be fired!” “George, you’re not going to be fired.” “Yes, I am! Something horrible has
Professor Walsh gives an “A” to a Jain monk Read More »
How media report statistics according to their philosophy: Enlightenment headline: SCIENCE and CAPITALISM a great success. Jaded-feminist headline: The PATRIARCHY encouraging women to be BABY-MAKING MACHINES. Socialist-Marxist headline: Europeans gain by EXPLOITING poor women in the THIRD WORLD. Postmodern headline: NO news here — “HEALTH” and “PROGRESS” mere SUBJECTIVE narratives.
Mortality headlines [humor alert] Read More »
This one is true: “Activist lectures U. North Carolina students about ‘right-handed privilege’“. And I am a victim. Reparations checks will be accepted.
Sample insults by philosophers that are true to their style: Heraclitus: “Why don’t you just flux off.” Aristotle: “All men by nature desire to know — just not about you.” Schopenhauer: “Your mind — so narrow that even the will to nothingness can’t find an opening.” Plato: “All in all, you’re just another shadow on
Philosophers’ Insults Read More »
Check out this definition: “Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is an economic theory that suggests that the government could simply create more money without consequence as it’s the issuer of the currency, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.” Which seems to imply that taxation is obsolete, as the second paragraph hints: Excellent. I’m totally in.
Does Modern Monetary Theory mean we no longer need to pay taxes? (he asks hopefully) Read More »
These are clever: Zeno and BETCHA CAN’T EAT JUST ONE – Lays, 1981 Existentialism and IT IS. ARE YOU? – The Independent, 1987 Ayn Rand and HAVE IT YOUR WAY – Burger King, 1973 Rene Descartes and I THINK, THEREFORE IBM – IBM, 1988 Tertullian and IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING – Adidas, 2004 Plato and IT’S
Philosophers and Famous Advertising Taglines Read More »