Category: Philosophy

I was intrigued by how well my Fascinating tumblr arguments post did traffic-wise. Apparently I am not alone in finding it interesting. Here I detail another engaging argument I’ve tried to keep track of on tumblr, this one about the appropriate status of transwomen within feminism. At the heart of the dispute is this question:… Continue reading More interesting tumblr arguments

So I wrote something in The Atlantic today. The basic argument is that, under certain conditions, it might make sense to make the poor poorer provided that you make the rich much less rich. Here is how that argument can work. Assume that a huge income gap, in and of itself, harms individual well-being. The… Continue reading The argument against inequality as such

Mike Konczal has a post over at Next New Deal today about rents and Nozick. He uses Nozick’s famous Wilt Chamberlain argument as a counterpoint to the anti-rentier arguments that have been floating around recently (see mine here). Nozick’s argument basically challenges people to explain what is unjust about people voluntarily giving an extra bit… Continue reading The late Nozick warmed up to coercive violence

That property institutions are socially constructed is so perfectly obvious that it hardly needs arguing. What else are they if not constructed? Did they exist before human beings existed? No surely not. Did they pop into existence as soon as that first creature with human-like DNA was born? Was it at that instant moment that… Continue reading Cultural hegemony and the naturalness of property

Michael Bloomberg’s recent attempts to reduce soda sizes and now to prohibit visually displaying cigarettes in stores have generated a great deal of comments on all sides. These are the kinds of basic policies that basically everyone feels comfortable chiming in on, which is fun. One popular view has been that these regulations are paternalistic… Continue reading Individual responsibility and situations