How does one evaluate the significance of a time when (a) millions of voters seem drunkenly elated about a candidate, and (b) all of that society’s wise pundits dismissed the candidate’s possible success? History helps by sending oracles about eras when those two phenomena were jointly in play. * On the early 1930s in Germany, […]
Predicting political tipping points is hard Read More »
[First published at EveryJoe.com.] Full disclosure at the outset: I’m a philosopher, and this new series of columns on The Good Life will often be about human nature, knowledge, the meaning of life, and of course politics. So let me start by indicating some of my colleagues’ opinions about politics. A favorite party game for
Are Philosophers Stupid about Politics? [The Good Life] Read More »
O que explica as diferenças dramáticas de desempenho econômico entre as duas Américas? Considere os números do Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) disponibilizados pelo Banco Mundial — uma medida de sucesso econômico. Nós queremos que as pessoas tenham um nível de vida adequado, especialmente as pobres. E se formos ambiciosos, queremos que as pessoas tenham um
Por que a América do Norte é mais rica que a América Latina? Read More »
In Western nations, there is a clear connection between philosophy and totalitarian politics in the 20th century. Hegel’s philosophy, for example, took a “left” turn in Marx’s thinking — which Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin drew upon — and it took a “right” turn in Treitschke’s and Nietzsche’s thinking — which Goebbels, Hitler, and the National
German philosophy in pre-World-War-II Japan Read More »
In my Introduction to Philosophy course this week we are reading and discussing The Fountainhead, a great novel on the themes of independence and integrity. In Part One, Rand’s primary purpose is to contrast the characters Howard Roark and Peter Keating. Here is a table (click to enlarge) summarizing the main events in each young
The Fountainhead (Introduction to Philosophy this week) Read More »
For use in my courses, additions to my Texts in Philosophy page. All files are PDFs. “Arachne and Athena.” James Buchanan, “Public Choice: Politics without Romance,” Policy Magazine (2003). Martin Heidegger, “Reunion Speech” (1934). HTML version here. Heinrich Himmler, “Speech at Posen” (1943). John Maynard Keynes, The End of Laissez-Faire (1926). HTML version here. John
Texts in Philosophy — early 2015 additions Read More »
Will Altman: “It is perfectly natural to feel loyalty to the thinker who set you to thinking, to the writer whose writings first made you a careful and devoted reader, and whose example inspired your own way of life as a philosopher.” Altman’s words appear in the concluding chapter of his book on Martin Heidegger,
Loyalty to your first great intellectual love Read More »
Tempos difíceis para a liberdade de expressão. Há um século, a Alemanha era uma nação autoritária. O Kaiser Guilherme II estava presidindo as forças da nação na 1º Guerra Mundial, enquanto o jovem Adolf Hitler estava trabalhando para ser ele o comandante das forças da nação na 2ª Guerra Mundial. Ao mesmo tempo, a Grã-Bretanha
A liberdade de expressão está morta nas universidades? [Portuguese translation] Read More »
As autoridades alemãs permitirão a reimpressão da obra Mein Kampf (tradução oficial, Minha Luta) de Adolf Hitler, após décadas de censura. Pessoas decentes podem argumentar que o livro é muito perigoso para ser publicado. Mas o fato é que Mein Kampf é muito perigoso para não ser publicado. O grande medo é que as ideias de Hitler não estejam mortas e que seu livro
Republicar “Mein Kampf” é a decisão correta? [Portuguese translation] Read More »
Here is the PDF of my chapter “How Can We Make Entrepreneurs?”, which was published in Shawn Klein’s edited volume Steve Jobs and Philosophy (Open Court, 2015), pp. 53-66. Click on the image at left to see a larger view of the cover. My chapter begins by noting Steve Jobs’s troubles within the formal school
How Can We Make Entrepreneurs? *Steve Jobs and Philosophy* Read More »