When force is made the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket. – Ayn Rand If you’ve read the previous two pieces in this little series, you’ve probably got the idea that I don’t much like governments. You’re right about that. The State, the human organization defined by its monopoly privilege of using …
Category: philosophy
Feb 20 2024
Killers Part 2
An ancient principle of the law holds that he who aids or abets the commission or the concealment of a crime is as guilty of that crime as the perpetrator of the criminal act. Clearly, the abettor must condone the crime. Equally clearly, the abettor and the perpetrator share certain convictions, whether about the …
Feb 19 2024
Killers Part 1
The civility cherished by the civilized men had finally been defeated by their ideas, although they did not know that this was the cause. After years of preaching contradictions and of evading principles with an anti-ideological shrug, these men were astonished to see the nation conclude that man cannot live by principles, that reason …
Aug 23 2023
Moral Decisions
One of the philosophers vitally important to the development of Western thought, Immanuel Kant, propounded some theses that have gotten him lambasted by…let us say…persons with another agenda. The Randians dislike Kant for having criticized “pure reason:” i.e., reason divorced from longstanding postulates, empirical data, and the yearnings of the soul. Many Christian polemicists …
Feb 04 2023
Can Freedom Be Individualized?
“Professor, I can’t understand you. I don’t insist that you call it ‘government’—I just want you to state what rules you think are necessary to insure equal freedom for all.” “Dear lady, I’ll happily accept your rules.” “But you don’t seem to want any rules!” “True. But I will accept any …
Jan 04 2023
How To Do It
No ranting about politics or current events today. Let me tell you a story instead. It’s a true story of some importance, so refill the mug and kick back. *** Time marches on, and in only one direction. But he whose memory is reliable will retain the important lessons of times past. Some …
Nov 30 2022
The Triad, The Dyad, And The Monad
If you’re aware that there is a school of philosophy that rigidly separates “real” things from men’s experiences of them, you’re a rare individual, and I commend you. If you’re aware that the promotion of that dichotomy has engendered some of the fiercest disputes in the history of philosophy, you’re an even rarer individual, …
Nov 14 2011
The Three Systems of Man
Some years ago, a DEC software engineer by the name of Mike Gancarz wrote an intriguing little book called “The UNIX Philosophy.” In it, he propounded his conception of the Three Systems of Man. The First system occurs when some genius with time and CPU cycles on his hands thinks up a nifty new idea: …
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