Category Archives: Philosophy

Wilkinson’s Progressive Libertarianism

By Charlie Deist | Published: May 11, 2010
The Cato Institute’s Will Wilkinson is known for promoting a “liberal-tarian” alliance and hopes that a doctrine of limited government and humanitarian cosmopolitanism could prevail in future generations. I think he might be right, but only if people our age wake up to the fact that future resources that we could be buying awesome stuff [...]
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DeLong to PACS Professors: Grow Up

By Charlie Deist | Published: May 8, 2010
I generally disagree with UC Berkeley Professor and PEIS Chair Professor Brad Delong’s worldview and method of internet discourse (deleting comments, ahem), but it pleases me to see him stirring up anger among extreme leftists in the social sciences. DeLong prides himself on his supposed freedom from bias, which naturally precludes him buying into the bulk of [...]
Also posted in Berkeley, Econ 101, education | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Voluntarism Introduction

By Josh Weil | Published: April 30, 2010
The only reason slavery is morally wrong is because it is an involuntary deal between two people. Voluntarism is a variant of libertarian theory that builds from the self-ownership and non-agression principles. The short version of this philosophy is that you own yourself, and you can only enter into voluntary deals with others. Any human action [...]
Also posted in Axiom of Non-Coercion | Leave a comment

Tale of the Slave

By Josh Weil | Published: April 20, 2010
An excerpt from Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
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Why Principled Non-Violence?

By Josh Weil | Published: April 8, 2010
I don’t see a reasonable argument for principled non-violence. If person A attacks person B, what is the principle that should stop person C from using violence or the threat thereof to defend person B? There’s no justification for an absolute pacifist position considering peoples’ rights get violated. It’s efficient for most people to contract out [...]
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I Made Another Paper!

By Josh Weil | Published: March 30, 2010
The Examiner featured my pic of PZ Meyer’s talk at Berkeley.
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An Unintended Consequence I Can Live With

By Charlie Deist | Published: March 21, 2010
As I understand it, the House of Representatives is expected to pass a massive overhaul of the health-care sector today. The bill will expand deficits and increase the government’s role in individual decision-making regarding health-care consumption. Several months ago I posted a quote from an interview with F.A. Hayek which I think best sums up [...]
Also posted in Central Planning, Government Spending, Health Care, Innovation, Psychology & Behavior, Self Interest, Unintended Consequences, hayek | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Going Meta: Part 1

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 25, 2010
I’ve always suspected that I have an above-normal predisposition towards analyzing the nature my thoughts and beliefs, putting me in the company of one of my favorite philosophers, Robin Hanson. For example, ever since I began forming opinions about the way the world works, I have been obsessed with understanding why my beliefs about reality differ [...]
Also posted in Knowledge problem, Psychology & Behavior, Self Interest | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Self Ownership

By Josh Weil | Published: January 26, 2010
A great YouTube video on the philosophy of liberty:
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Education Is Not a Right

By Josh Weil | Published: January 23, 2010
I disagree with this graphic. The only rights are life, liberty, and property. Anything else and you are forcing other people to work for you. Just because something seems nice, doesn’t mean it is a right. To claim education is a right is to claim that you have a right to steal from someone and spend [...]
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