 What you "Owe to Society"
by Tibor R. Machan
Sadly this is an ancient thesis that's being revived now in a country that was founded on denying it. The idea is well expressed in a recent book by Professor William E. Hudson, titled, The Libertarian Illusion: Ideology, Public Policy, and the Assault on the Common Good (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2008). Hudson states,... (Read more...)
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Multiple Moralities
by Joseph Rowlands
I have received criticism from some Objectivists about the approach I took in writing my book Morality Needs No God. There is a key decision that needs to made in approaching this subject. Do you take the view that there are many different kinds of moral systems, or do you claim that there is only one 'real' morality a... (Read more...)
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Free to be Moral
by Joseph Rowlands
It is common for advocates of freedom to point out that you can't really be moral unless you have the freedom to act on your own judgments. If you are forced to act in a particular way, like forced to give a part of your wealth to charity, you aren't really acting morally. You are submitting to force. It is the wielder... (Read more...)
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Fourth of July and the Public Interest
by Tibor R. Machan
Throughout history political thinkers have been concerned a great deal withthe public good (or public interest, common good, general welfare, etc.).Usually they came up with massive plans or enchanting visions. Plato’steacher, Socrates, initiated this tradition, with his imaginary totalitariansociety, the Republi... (Read more...)
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Philosophy as Doubt
by Joseph Rowlands
What is the purpose of philosophy? Many people will say that it teaches you to question everything. Are your senses reliable? Are we capable of understanding the world as it really is? Do we actually make choices and direct our own thinking, or are we mere automatons reacting mechanically to inputs?
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Taking it Further
by Joseph Rowlands
Recently I've read some books about successful mathematicians and scientists. There's one pattern that has emerged that strikes me as both useful and inspiring. Each of these successful people didn't stop at a single successful achievement. They followed up on it, trying to find out if there was more they could learn f... (Read more...)
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Hierarchy and Honesty
by Joseph Rowlands
One interpretation of the hierarchical theory of knowledge suggests that you arrive at the principle of honesty through more fundamental ideas. It might include life as the standard of morality, man's need for principles, and rationality as the primary virtue. From there, you can see honesty as a kind of clarification ... (Read more...)
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The Mechanics of Moral Judgment
by Joseph Rowlands
In my view of morality, principles have a different role than they are normally assumed to have. Instead of being methods of judging whether an action is good or bad, they are methods of forecasting the consequences. Moral principles are identifications of causal relationships, and they are used to identify the likely ... (Read more...)
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Filling in the Gaps
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the problems with bad philosophical standards is that it leaves you without guidance in areas that aren't covered. You end up filling in the gaps, but in ways that are often the opposite of the original standards.
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Unpredictable
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the key insights in Austrian Economics is that economic consequences are really unpredictable. This isn't to say that the science hasn't made enough progress to make accurate predictions. It isn't even saying that the predictions must be qualitative in nature as there are no fixed mathematical relationships in p... (Read more...)
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Boundaries of Moral Policies
by Joseph Rowlands
Objectivists often think of moral principles as a kind of policy telling you how to behave. I think this is problematic. One of the biggest issues is how these moral policies deal with scenarios where they aren't in your rational self-interest.
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Moral Agents and Responsibility
by Joseph Rowlands
Sometimes in morality, the blame is shifted from one party to another. There are different reasons for this. One justification for this is when someone is coerced. The initiation of force by a second person interferes with the victims ability to act on his own judgment. The initiator of force overrides the judgment of ... (Read more...)
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Pondering Hierarchical Knowledge
by Joseph Rowlands
In many ways, a theory that knowledge is hierarchical is obviously true. But what exactly does it mean? There are multiple ways in which we could talk about knowledge being hierarchical, and they don't really fit together.
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Personal and Political Altruism
by Joseph Rowlands
For those who accept some kind of altruistic morality, there are two radically different ways of putting that morality into practice. One treats altruism as a personal morality, requiring the individual to live his life in the service of others. The other treats altruism as something best pursued in the political arena... (Read more...)
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Shifting Moral Responsibility
by Joseph Rowlands
When discussing moral judgment, there is some confusion over the nature of causality and moral responsibility. If someone points a gun at you and demands that you steal from someone else, are you to blame if you comply? Did the gunman cause you to do it? Who is responsible?
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The Role of Principles in Judgment
by Joseph Rowlands
What role do principles play in the act of moral judgment? This is a significant issue and one of the places where I seem to break from the traditional Objectivist view.
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The Focus on Intentions
by Joseph Rowlands
The political left is focused on intentions more than actual results. If a debate over a healthcare policy happens, they will view the debate in terms of one side desiring free or cheap healthcare for people and the other side desiring that some people not be able to afford healthcare. Conservatives might argue that th... (Read more...)
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Who Should Vote?
by Michael E. Marotta
If you claim that in a better future those who cannot pay a poll tax will not vote, that is one proposal, in isolation. If you claim that “someone on welfare should not vote here and now” you must accept that in a mixed economy everyone is “on welfare”; and some people “on welfare” deserve to vote. (Read more...)
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More Mind-Body Dichotomy
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the parts of Objectivist theory that I disagree with is the idea that rationality is the primary virtue. According to this view, all of the other virtues are mere sub-divisions of rationality. The virtues focus on one aspect of rationality. For instance, honesty is viewed in terms of not creating a fake reality.... (Read more...)
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Different Standards in Politics
by Joseph Rowlands
There is a major source of confusion in politics. While people recognize that they can't seem to communicate, they always assume the problem is on the other side. Either their political opponents are ignorant, possibly intentionally ignorant, or they are just evil and are pursuing destructive goals.
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The Left and Intentions
by Joseph Rowlands
To understand the political left, the role of intentions in their ideology needs to be understood clearly. It informs their entire perspective. It is the foundation of their understanding of the nature of politics, opposing views, and the explanation for various consequences.
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Faith in Free Markets
by Joseph Rowlands
Free markets are well known to be efficient, to drive down costs through competition, and to increase the total amount of wealth produced. Unfortunately, people often treat free markets as some kind of magical process, guaranteeing efficient results no matter the circumstances. Anarcho-capitalists treat free market thi... (Read more...)
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Conservatives Are Not Friends of Freedom
by Joseph Rowlands
The reasons why people support an idea or institution determine how far and what context they are willing to support it. This is particularly true of the conservative friendliness towards free market.
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Is Altruism Practical?
by Joseph Rowlands
Conservatives and liberals, for lack of better names for them, have major ideological differences. At the same time, they share some fundamental premises. I believe the differences and similarities rest on a single question. Is altruism practical?
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Progressivism and Paternalism
by Joseph Rowlands
The political left is often viewed as a homogenous group sharing roughly the same vision of the proper role of government and valuing the same set of policies. While individuals will always vary, it often appears that there is little actual variance. However, there are really two entirely different worldviews that happ... (Read more...)
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