Kant’s great dodge

At one point in Theory and Practice, Kant sets out to establish who should have voting rights. In one very fascinating paragraph, he concludes thusly: Anyone who has the right to vote on this legislation is a citizen (citoyen, i.e. citizen of a state, not bourgeois or citizen of a town). The only qualification required… Continue reading Kant’s great dodge

Virtue ethics and sovereign debt

Analysts tend to write about policy and political institutions in very consequentialist ways. That is, they describe the immediate consequences of some institution or policy, and then use those expected consequences to argue that the institution or policy is good or bad. Discussions around fiscal deficits and the federal debt almost uniformly utilize such a… Continue reading Virtue ethics and sovereign debt

Another way to spend money on education

The educational achievement of a child involves many inputs: parents, household situations, neighborhoods, nourishment, and of course schools. As a result of the education reform movement, all non-school inputs are currently sidelined. If a child performs poorly, we are made to believe that school-side problems are to blame. It must be failing teachers, failing school… Continue reading Another way to spend money on education