Category Archives: Philosophy
Philosophy and Economics
So, I wore my new David Hume shirt to work yesterday. And before you ask, yes, I am in fact that much of a nerd. Also, yes, I do in fact have a job where I can wear that shirt on a Thursday and no one cares. Some parts of my job I really like. Anyway, I found the whole … Continue reading
Reason on House
At Hit & Run, Reason’s Jacob Sullum takes issue with the first three episodes of season 6 of House. Now some of you probably already know of my unabashed love for House. Well, Jacob also manages to hit on another of my hobby-horses, namely, the stupid way in which Americans stigmatize drug use. (To be clear, I think that it’s … Continue reading
Political Sleight-of-Hand, in Which Pundits Attempt to Derive an Ought from an Is
Every once in a while I find myself banging my head against the wall watching some pundit or making the claim that Pure Science tells us exactly what we should do. Why this is supposed to be a point in the pundit’s favor is beyond me. Is there anything more frightening than the image of a bunch of folks in … Continue reading
Public Choice as Implied Space
So, as part of my rot-your-brain-with-SF summer marathon, I recently checked out Walter Jon Williams’ Implied Spaces from the good folks at the Arlington County Public Library). As a novel, it was more-or-less on par with Williams’ other novels — entertaining hard SF that is absorbing enough to fill out a lunch hour but generally pretty forgettable 10 minutes after … Continue reading
Questions of Normativity
Over at Catallarchy, I made what I thought was pretty much just a passing observation on a throwaway comment to a post on diminishing marginal utility. Oddly enough, that comments sparked a spirited (if IMHO hugely misinformed) defense from Constant, a regular Catallarchy commenter. The issue has to do with normativity. Constant mentioned that he finds less value in normative … Continue reading
Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility
At Catallarchy, there’s a rousing, extended (several days now, which is extended in blogosphere-time) discussion of interpersonal comparisons of utility. Several of the regulars there have weighed in on the issue, and there is some disagreement among the Catallarchists themselves regarding whether or not it’s possible to make interpersonal comparisons of utility. (See here, here, here, here, and here. Keep … Continue reading