Category: Philosophy

Greg Newburn brought to my attention this old piece from Will Wilkinson. In it Wilkinson argues against the Murphy-Nagel (and before them Hale, Proudhon, pieces of Hobbes, Rousseau, etc.) view that it is incoherent for someone to say some bit of money that is taxed is their money being taken. Before making his point, Wilkinson… Continue reading It isn’t your money

Folks at Bleeding Heart Libertarians are debating whether to make parents have licenses in order to raise children (I, II). It is a strange debate for a number of reasons, but one major one is that it operates on the assumptions that child neglect is wrong and that the welfare of children is any of the… Continue reading The Proper Libertarian Position on Child Licenses

There is no general framework of morality or justice that supports laissez-faire capitalism. This is a problem of course for those who wish to argue on behalf of it. When you talk to such people, a familiar argumentative pattern emerges that I have come to call Capitalism Whack-A-Mole. Someone playing Capitalism Whack-A-Mole moves seamlessly between… Continue reading Capitalism Whack-A-Mole

Scenario 1: Work + No Pay Suppose I do work, but do not receive any compensation for the work. This can happen because an employer did not pay me what I was supposed to get paid. It can also happen because I do work that does not get paid, including things like caring for others… Continue reading Does working reduce poverty?

Although I don’t do foreign news events, I actually am very well-acquainted with the ins and outs of so-called Just War Theory, having intensely studied it many years ago. To call it a “theory” is to give it too much credit of course. It is nothing more than a list of discrete rules and principles… Continue reading Just War Theory is window dressing