Stephen Hicks

Is Austrian economics anti-empirical? (Horwitz, Caplan, Selgin, and Boettke)

Leave a Comment / Economics, Epistemology /

[I’m re-posting this good discussion from 2012 at Cato Unbound.] An instructive trio of essays by economists at Cato Unbound about Austrian economics’ reputation — especially Mises’s praxeological version — for being strongly a priori rationalist: Is Austrian economics anti-empiricist? Steve Horwitz says no. Bryan Caplan says yes. George Selgin also says yes. To Selgin’s […]

Is Austrian economics anti-empirical? (Horwitz, Caplan, Selgin, and Boettke) Read More »

Is Political Evil Built into Religion? [Theist vs. Atheist series]

Leave a Comment / Politics, Religion /

[This essay is a part of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John C. Wright. Here Hicks responds to Wright’s previous column. Here are the links to other essays in the series.] We live in good times for religion and politics. The great majority of us are free to practice or not

Is Political Evil Built into Religion? [Theist vs. Atheist series] Read More »

The Three Stages of Far-Left Advocacy (sarcastic version)

2 Comments / Humor, Philosophy, Politics /

Now that we are solidly into Stage 3 … Stage 1 (early 20th century): Socialism is really true and moral and liberal capitalism is evil. [The evidence comes in. Shit.] Stage 2 (late 20th century): Evidence and logic are subjective constructs and all alternative constructs are equal. [Liberal-capitalist constructs continue to appeal to many people.

The Three Stages of Far-Left Advocacy (sarcastic version) Read More »

A religião é boa ou má para a política? [Católico vs. Ateu, Parte 6, Portuguese translation]

Leave a Comment / Philosophy, Politics, Religion /

[This is a Portuguese translation of Part 6 of the Theist vs. Atheist debate series between Stephen Hicks and John Wright, originally published in English at EveryJoe.] A religião é boa ou má para a política? Por John C. Wright Tradução de Matheus Pacini Revisão de Mateus Bernardino A questão dessa semana é se a

A religião é boa ou má para a política? [Católico vs. Ateu, Parte 6, Portuguese translation] Read More »

Espada on Anglo liberalism, a European perspective

Leave a Comment / Politics /

João Carlos Espada of the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon has a new book out: The Anglo-American Tradition of Liberty: A View from Europe. The title suggests a distance between Europe and liberal ideas and institutions as they developed in the Anglo tradition. Here’s the book’s description: “Joao Carlos Espada’s provocative survey of a

Espada on Anglo liberalism, a European perspective Read More »

Was Kant a liberal? Discussion at Cato Unbound

2 Comments / Philosophy /

Next week Cato Unbound will publish a four-part discussion of Immanuel Kant’s place in the classical liberal tradition. The formal title of the series is: “Immanuel Kant and Classical Liberalism.” The whole series will be edited by Jason Kuznicki and will consist of four scholars addressing the topic from (likely) different angles. Professor Mark D. White (Staten

Was Kant a liberal? Discussion at Cato Unbound Read More »