Topic: Philosophy

Authoritarianism, Government, Philosophy

A Swiss Oasis of Liberal Sanity in a Totalitarian Europe

– December 11, 2022

“Let us hope that such oases always exist somewhere to help preserve the spirit of classical liberalism during times of ideological and philosophical crisis.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Art and Culture, Government, Philosophy

In Defense of Arguing

– December 9, 2022

“When we refuse to engage in argument, even out of perceived politeness, we allow more bad ideas to take hold and propagate. Unintended consequences and wasted resources multiply.” ~ Laura Williams

Education, Government, Philosophy

Professors Are Not “Priests of Democracy”

– December 3, 2022

“If we ascribe qualities like academic freedom, free speech, opposition to censorship, and skepticism of government to American democracy, as Walker does, then we should avoid putting academia on a pedestal it does not deserve.” ~ Garion Frankel

Books, Economic Education, Philosophy

Capitalism’s Cure for Economic Sins

– November 18, 2022

“Anyone who takes economic ideas and their moral implications seriously would do well to clear space on their bookshelf for Seven Deadly Economic Sins.” ~ Richard Morrison

Art and Culture, Government, Philosophy

America the Friendless

– November 10, 2022

“We must encourage the civil associations that Tocqueville celebrated in Americans of the 1830s. Cultivating the mediating ‘little platoons’ found in gatherings of religious groups, book clubs, and hunting associations all can do much good on this project.” ~ Adam M. Carrington

Authoritarianism, Government, Philosophy, Technology

The Revolutionary Trigger

– November 7, 2022

“We have a duty to confront a vital-but-uncomfortable question: at what point must Americans take it upon ourselves to revolt? In other words, what is the revolutionary trigger?” ~ Max Borders

Classical Liberalism, Government, Philosophy

Driving Liberty in the Traffic of Tolerance

– November 3, 2022

“Liberty is the ability to stay in my lane without having to worry about others as obstacles to my progress. Tolerance comes from the complex mix of political institutions that result in a rule of law, like traffic lanes, that ensure liberty is shared by all.” ~ Michael D. Thomas

Art and Culture, Classical Liberalism, Philosophy

A Question of Relationships: Are Our Personal Preferences Always “Personal?”

– October 31, 2022

“Accounting for the influence of relational dynamics may help us better understand some of the more vexing behaviors left unexplained by an over-strict adherence to methodological individualism.” ~ Paul Schwennesen & April Liu

Books, Government, Philosophy

In Defense of Generosity

– October 30, 2022

“As Thomas Aquinas indicated, none is so poor as to lack the means to be generous. The planned, egalitarian society is not the only just or good one, and a community in which generosity thrives is the very antithesis of a tyranny.” ~ Richard Gunderman

Classical Liberalism, Government, Philosophy

Despotic Days?

– October 28, 2022

“The tragedy we see around us is that cultural leaders are abandoning liberal norms, which themselves should bear a certain sacredness or sacrosanctity, so far as they go.” ~ Daniel Klein & Michael C. Munger

Books, Classical Liberalism, Education, Philosophy

Reason and the Freedom of Speech

– September 11, 2022

“We should by all means distinguish between academic freedom and freedom of speech. But we should be very wary of those who wish to establish a basis for that distinction when they doubt the principled commitments to reason and truth that are both freedoms’ foundation.” ~ Joseph M. Knippenberg

Classical Liberalism, Government, Philosophy

The Baby and the Bathwater

– September 3, 2022

“There is an imprudence in forgetting that liberal principles, suitably cherished, are a check on power, the levers of which are, one day to the next, to be controlled by the good’s worst enemies.” ~ Daniel Klein & Daniel J. Mahoney