Philosophy

The Three Stages of Far-Left Advocacy (sarcastic version)

Now that we are solidly into Stage 3 … Stage 1 (early 20th century): Socialism is really true and moral and liberal capitalism is evil. [The evidence comes in. Shit.] Stage 2 (late 20th century): Evidence and logic are subjective constructs and all alternative constructs are equal. [Liberal-capitalist constructs continue to appeal to many people. […]

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A religião é boa ou má para a política? [Católico vs. Ateu, Parte 6, Portuguese translation]

[This is a Portuguese translation of Part 6 of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John Wright, originally published in English at EveryJoe.] A religião é boa ou má para a política? Por John C. Wright Tradução de Matheus Pacini Revisão de Mateus Bernardino A questão dessa semana é se a

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Was Kant a liberal? Discussion at Cato Unbound

Next week Cato Unbound will publish a four-part discussion of Immanuel Kant’s place in the classical liberal tradition. The formal title of the series is: “Immanuel Kant and Classical Liberalism.” The whole series will be edited by Jason Kuznicki and will consist of four scholars addressing the topic from (likely) different angles. Professor Mark D. White (Staten

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Making Life Meaningful without Religion [Theist vs. Atheist series]

[This column is a part of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John C. Wright. Here Hicks responds to Wright’s article. And here are the links to other columns in the series.] The quest for a meaningful life comes naturally to us. As infants we delight in exploring the world and developing

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Blamestorming and Environmental Problems (Part I) [Good Life series]

Some parts of the world really are environmental Hells. They are dirty and depleted, making them unhealthy and economically unsustainable. We can argue about the severity of various places’ problems, but I want to focus on another aspect of the debate: determining accurately the causes of the degradation so we can focus productively on finding

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Postmodernism — podcast discussion with Steve Patterson

Patterson in Pursuit is Steve Patterson’s series of podcast discussions with intellectuals. Recently Patterson and I discussed the themes and background developments that led to postmodernism — the premodern worldview, modernism’s revolutionary break, the Enlightenment project, the counter-Enlightenment, an assortment of key people including Kant, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Rorty, and whether we are actually living

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On Natural Morality and Religious Amoralism [Theist vs. Atheist series]

[This column is a part of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John C. Wright. Here Hicks responds to Wright’s column about whether religion is essential to ethics.] In my judgment, issues of morality are the most difficult in philosophy. They are intellectually challenging, as everything about the human condition is

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