Philosophy

Experienced consultant John Davis on how to have productive discussions. A snippet: * Stick to the subject.* Don’t interrupt.* One person talking at a time.* No ad hominem.* No name calling.* Eliminate gutter talk* Avoid logical fallacies.* Know the underlying premises of your positions.* Identify the underlying premises of the others’ positions.* Argue from basic […]

My Liberalism: Pro and Con has been translated into Spanish by Fermin Elizalde. We will be serially publishing here each part prior to the publication of the book as a whole. Find the English version here: Amazon. From the blurb for the English edition: In this primer, we take up the best arguments for and

Related: My contrasting episodes on Karl Marx and Ayn Rand. In the *Philosophers, Explained* series. Marx on abolishing private property: Rand on individual rights:

From seven years ago. Households vary in size, so take that into account when interpreting. Also: Median income for Jamaican-American households was about $58K. For Nigerian-American households, it was about $65K. Here’s another data-aggregating page.

Background: Here’s a good summary of the Magness/Makovi paper on the influence of politics on Marx’s reputation. Aside from the cheap-shot responses by many of those outraged by the paper, there’s an intriguing philosophical inversion at work among the Outraged. Marx himself argued that the world develops with “iron necessity” in a strict causal priority:

A friend sent this t-shirt today. A man is listening to a television advertisement: How much would you pay for the secrets of the Universe? Do not answer yet, you also get this stainless steel pot!! Now how much would you pay? Such a tough pair of questions. I love it.