 There are no gods
by Manfred F. Schieder
An Objectivist's proof of the nonexistence of any kind of god. (Read more...)
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Was Jesus A Socialist?
by Lawrence W. Reed
"Regardless of your religious beliefs, Larry Reed proves it takes a wild leap of imagination to view Jesus as a Progressive Socialist. This is a critically important issue because secular Progressives would like to control the moral high ground by capturing religion to support their elitist, statist ideology, which would allow them to do even more damage to genuine human flourishing." — John A. Allison, President and CEO, Cato Institute (Read more...)
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Thursday
September 11, 2014 |
Doubting One’s Mind
by Tibor R. Machan
A central topic of philosophy throughout the ages has been whether human
beings can trust their minds, including their sensory awareness and
thinking. Skepticism about this has been a major challenge and many from
Socrates to such recent and current thinkers as Ayn Rand and John Searle
have responded with more or less elaborate arguments defending our
capacity to get things right about the world. (Read more...)
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The fiat money quantity FMQ
by Alasdair Macleod
FMQ: To replicate the theoretical reversal of the process of replacing physical gold initially with money-substitutes, and then unbacked currency after the Nixon Shock when all convertibility was finally suspended. (Read more...)
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Confusing Terms: Moral and Immoral
by Joseph Rowlands
I've noticed over the years that when discussing certain topics, some words don't help. They actually get in the way of a clear understanding. The use of "moral" and "immoral" are two examples that create massive confusion. One of the sources of this confusion is that "moral" and "immoral" are conclusions to a... (Read more...)
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Ethnicity is Obsolete
by Tibor R. Machan
In the United States of America ethnic distinctions are especially impossible to maintain with a straight face. Who are the Native Americans? The blacks? The whites? The Hispanics? These are entirely accidental categories, having to do with attributes that hardly remain stable over the lives of individuals, let alone across generations. (Read more...)
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No Difference in Ideology & Values
by Tibor R. Machan
When you consider what is the difference between the ideology of North Korea and that of the U. S. A., it is difficult to say. In practical terms, of course, the U.S.A. is still largely individualistic but our leaders, especially President Obama, embrace a rhetoric that stresses togetherness, “everyone being in the same boat,” etc. In short, America’s current administration has an ideology that is very close to what guides the North Korean communist government. (Read more...)
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The Democratic Ideal
by Tibor R. Machan
In this essay I wish to revisit democracy since all the power that our current administration is claiming for itself is supposedly justified by way of the democratic method. But in fact only a properly limited democracy is politically just and justified. (Read more...)
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The Lies of the Left and the Right
by Ed Thompson
Taking no prisoners. (Read more...)
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Four Major Worldviews
by Ed Thompson
An overview of the main kinds of ways that you can look at the world. (Read more...)
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Morality Needs No God: Chapter 1
by Joseph Rowlands
The following is an excerpt from my new book Morality Needs No God. (Read more...)
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Libertarianism without Individual (Natural) Rights: An outcome of anarcho-capitalism
by Ed Thompson
A tragic-comedy story describing a negative outcome of competing, private defense agencies. (Read more...)
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Tunisia’s Free Trade Revolt
by Tibor R. Machan
In many circles it is a prominent mantra that property rights are not human rights. The rights to private property and to trade it are treated by many political thinkers and jurists as far from binding on us. (Read more...)
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Do We Have a Moral Nature?
by Tibor R. Machan
It is often held, by admirers of modern science (which took off around about the 15th century) that if human beings are parts of nature, there can be no room for morality in their lives. They are then simply complicated machines working as they must, with no possibility that they can make choices, which is an essential part of morality. Science and morality are, then, often juxtaposed.
(Read more...)
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Phooey on John Dewey
by Bruce Deitrick Price
The year: 1897. Dewey’s age: 38. "My Pedagogic Creed" is a fascinating and original work. It's almost art, in the exotic sense that Wittgenstein's "Tractatus" is art. They're both breezily dogmatic, stating a thousand decisive Truths, perhaps a few of which are even true. Here's the key point. Wouldn't we like Dewey to say he has concluded or demonstrated or observed or discovered something? He does not. Here's what he says 74 times in My Creed: "I believe...I believe...I believe..." You want education as fevered religious vision, read Dewey. (Read more...)
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Vital Ideas in Conflict-Sen versus Bauer
by Tibor R. Machan
A most influential book by Harvard Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen
is Development as Freedom (Knopf, 1999). At first glance the title
suggests that Sen shares the late Peter Bauer’s ideas who argued that
global free market policies would best help the poor everywhere. But that
isn't Sen's message at all. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
October 14, 2009 |
Nebulous Terms: Defining Religion
by Jonathan Pararajasingham
While the debates and philosophising on religion continues as fervently as ever, there still seems no real consensus on what the actual definition of a "religion" should be. God is certainly not an essential part of the equation as evidenced by the existence of atheistic religions such as Hindu Carvaka or Buddhism. Here I try and explore what should perhaps objectively be the common threads that define true religion, and thus simultaneously exclude pseudo-religious beliefs. (Read more...)
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The Lullaby Yoke
by Manfred F. Schieder
The steadfast devotion to the premises of collectivism reveals a rejection of reality and an adherence to remain attached to fantastic visions. It conforms the mentality of societies that despise progress and the personal involvement related with it. Such societies remain attached to the past, to the yoke of lullabies whispering the venom of its lies, societies that can barely, if at all, be called civilized, though they would very much like to be considered as such. Since these societies are a contradiction with evolution itself, we are now crossing a time of great transition toward a new type of society whose economic basis is Capitalism, a rational society corresponding to a species that is entering the stage of rationality. (Read more...)
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The Dubai Marvels
by Manfred F. Schieder
The architectural and engineering achievements being nowadays set up in Dubai, at the United Arab Emirates, are testimonies of human ingenuity and capacity, but they are also symbols marking the amazing depth that human immorality has now reached. Peaceful, productive life and togetherness among different human races, nations and populations require from all involved a strict adherence to the personal, individual rights to life and limb. (Read more...)
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Without a plan
by Tibor R. Machan
A truly free country leaves it to its citizens to plan their lives, for
better or for worse, and refuses to permit the imposition of plans on them
even by the most wise and smart among us. (Read more...)
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Is Government Preparing Us for Censorship?
by Tibor R. Machan
In a series of articles on climate change the villain is gradually being
identified as, you should have guessed it, freedom of thought! (Read more...)
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The Real Republican Divide
by Alexandra York
Alexandra York sent me (Manfred F. Schieder) an article that I consider important for the readers of "Rebirth of Reason". "The Real Republican Divide" analyzes the intellectual contradictions existing within that party - to which Ayn Rand herself pointed in her essay "For the New Intellectual" - and lines up with what the recent article "A Call for Action" and my own "Preparing for Capitalism" request. (Read more...)
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One's Right to be Wrong
by Tibor R. Machan
Why should people have the freedom to do what is wrong, provided
they aren't violating anyone's rights? (Read more...)
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Wednesday
December 10, 2008 |
You could have heard a pin drop...
by Alexandra York
Commentary by Manfred F. Schieder: Alexandra York sent me a series of incisive stories that hit the nail on the head and which, under the present world circumstances, we all, but precisely the American population, should clearly keep in their mind. Please pass this on to your friends and associates. (Read more...)
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An Atheist's Response to Pascal's Wager
by G. Stolyarov II
Pascal’s Wager is one of the more respectable arguments in favor of religion. As an atheist, Mr. Stolyarov is nonetheless sympathetic to this argument, because it attempts to use reason to actually persuade people to believe in God, rather than circularly using the Bible as a reason to believe in the truth of the Bible. Of course, as an atheist, Mr. Stolyarov also believes that Pascal’s Wager is a mistaken argument. But here he will give it the consideration it deserves. (Read more...)
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