 Productive Understanding
by Joseph Rowlands
I find that often when people are trying to understand an idea, they aren't taking it very seriously. Perhaps its how they learned in school, where the point was to retain enough to select an appropriate answer on a test. There is no attempt to get a deep understanding. They seem to aim for a superficial understanding.... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
February 3, 2016 |
 The Handshake versus the Fist
by Marco den Ouden
In the war for people's minds, is it better to be angry and defiant, to be a rebel? Or is it better to present our philosophy as a positive, as a truth that is universal? A truth that it hard for our ideological enemies to refute? (Read more...)
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 A Room Full of Altruists
by Joseph Rowlands
Imagine there were two rooms full of people talking about morality. All of the people in the first room were committed altruists. In the second room, each person rejected altruism and promoted rational self-interest. Now coincidentally in both rooms, they were talking about morality. And not only were they talking abou... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
January 20, 2016 |
Something Bigger Than Yourself
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the selling points of religion or big government is the idea that if you sign up and support them, you will be joining something bigger than yourself. Why is that a good thing? Why is it attractive to people?
... (Read more...)
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Government Holding Kids Hostage
by Joseph Rowlands
The state of California is once again having budget problems. It is spending far more money than it can extort through taxes. Instead of cutting spending, politicians have announced that without higher taxes, they will be forced to cut spending to public schools. "Your money, or your children's future!" (Read more...)
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Understanding Empiricism
by Joseph Rowlands
Empiricism, when defined, sounds somewhat reasonable. It suggests all of our knowledge comes from perceptual data. Seemingly, this is a rejection of a priori knowledge, or divine revelation, or any other form of knowledge disconnected from perception. And if that's all it was, it would be perfectly reasonable.
... (Read more...)
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Mitt Romney Was Right
by Tibor R. Machan
When during the last presidential election campaign Mitt Romney suggested that some 47 percent of Americans choose to be dependent on the government, he seems to have been right. (The exact number is probably impossible to ascertain.) And at this time, the Democrats are pretty much hoping that at least that ma... (Read more...)
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Why Justice is Good
by Joseph Rowlands
If someone hurts you, it's natural to wish that they would suffer in return. Unfortunately, many people are dismissive of this inclination. They call it revenge, treat as an animalistic tendency that humans should overcome and be ashamed of, and sometimes even refer to it as blood lust, as if it were a demand for viole... (Read more...)
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Teaching to Share
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the things that parents often do is force their children to share their toys with other children. Sometimes it is their own children, and sometime other people's children. There are many excuses given for it. One couple points out that the older child hasn't played with those toys in months or years, and is only... (Read more...)
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Question for Bernie Sanders
by Tibor R. Machan
"Would it be possible, under your socialist system, for someone to be a capitalist -- engage in production and exchange without being forced to stop doing so, just as it is possible for you to be a socialist under a substantially capitalist system?" Because socialism requires having everyone be part ... (Read more...)
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Thursday
December 10, 2015 |
Revisiting Free Will
by Tibor R. Machan
The Importance of having Free Will
... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
December 2, 2015 |
Voter Motivation
by Joseph Rowlands
Occasionally people will describe to me why they think people vote for certain candidates and policies. A popular notion is that the leftist politicians have widespread support among welfare recipients and others who are trying to get free money. And the corresponding belief is that conservatives are supported by peopl... (Read more...)
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Thursday
November 26, 2015 |
A Brief on Abortion Rights
by Tibor R. Machan
It is risky to reenter this discussion. I have entered it often and been not just criticized but also denounced for my position. This is that up to the point the cerebral cortex develops, a fetus isn’t actually but only potentially a human being. It may be useful to restate at least the outline of the ca... (Read more...)
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The Trump Idiocy
by Tibor R. Machan
So Donald Trump wants to keep "cheap" (foreign made) goods and services from reaching Americans! But the rub is that when barriers to trade are established, such as tariffs or quotas, folks are deprived of the chance to save and then purchase items they would like to have with the savings.
... (Read more...)
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Saturday
November 14, 2015 |
Entitlement
by Joseph Rowlands
There are two radically different views of altruism that are dominant in the culture. One of them sees helping other people as a form of generosity and charity. The other views it as a form of entitlement of the recipient. These views are incompatible, and have very different moral implications.
... (Read more...)
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Democracy - but only when it goes your way!
by Tibor R. Machan
Over the years of watching the democratic process I've noticed something important. People tend to reject democracy, indeed, fight it tooth and nail, when it doesn't go their way. But when it does, well, it is the tops.
... (Read more...)
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Getting Away With It
by Joseph Rowlands
It's always been known that it is easier to take what you want by force than it is to earn it. Production takes work. Theft is relatively easy. The problem for the would-be thief has always been that there are consequences. If they could just get away with it, it would be a much more attractive option. For many, that m... (Read more...)
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Government Budget Crises
by Tibor R. Machan
Geopolitics, History, and International Relations
... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
October 21, 2015 |
Controls and Powerlessness
by Joseph Rowlands
To understand some of the hostility towards free markets and appeal of government power, it's useful to think about things in terms of having control over your life. People want to have some amount of control over the things that dominate their lives. They don't want to be helpless as other people control their lives.
... (Read more...)
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Living Well
by Joseph Rowlands
Imagine you collect a group of Objectivists together and compare them to some average group within the population. To make it an even fairer comparison, lets assume the non-Objectivist group had the same average IQ as the Objectivist group, in case you assumed that the Objectivist group would normally be higher (perhap... (Read more...)
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Obama's Romance with Cuba
by Tibor R. Machan
I have always opposed the American government's policy toward Fidel Castro's Cuba. The trade and travel restrictions were wrong and un-American to boot! But I am also suspicious of President Obama's current initiative to treat Cuba as if it were some kind of benign country. It is still, as it has been for decades, a c... (Read more...)
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Why Hire Philosophers?
by Joseph Rowlands
Consider a thought experiment. Imagine universities/colleges were given up, and curriculum was decided by the students with the help of parents and advisors. In this world, you would decide what you want to learn and you'd take the appropriate classes. You wouldn't be forced to take additional classes, and every subjec... (Read more...)
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Saturday
September 26, 2015 |
The Most Prosperous Nations
by Liam Joeseph Thornback
Some nations are successful and wealthy, while others suffer in poverty. To argue, in a world dominated by economic collectivism, the true reality behind the success of countries, one must objectively present empirical facts and rational understanding. (Read more...)
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Obama and the Jihadists
by Tibor R. Machan
It puzzles many folks why Mr. Obama isn’t more vigilant about Jihadists, including domestic ones. I find his outlook uncomplicated.
... (Read more...)
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Saturday
September 12, 2015 |
From Selfishness to Rational Self-Interest
by Merlin Jetton
The title means a developmental transition. Something we learn when growing up is the existence of social morality. It consists of rules that require or prohibit action that humans direct to one another to engage in, or refrain from, certain kinds of action. This is only part of morality. There is also what makes a goo... (Read more...)
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