Question: Is it ever okay to initiate force? For example, what if I think my neighbor's tree might conceivably fall on my house, or what if I believe that Iraq is developing nuclear weapons and might attack me? What if I perceive a threat where others do not? Answer: I think the solution lies in the somewhat vague-sounding idea of "clear and present danger."
April 2008 -- Reports of poetry’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Proof of life arrives afresh in Walter Donway’s exquisite new book, Touched By Its Rays.
Independence is a hard virtue to practice because we benefit so much from the values that others in society provide to us. One major class of value from others is all the information they provide us, from the subjects we learn in school… to ethical teachings …to scientific discoveries… to hot gossip… to the news we receive from all over the world. Does being independent mean that we can’t trust any of these sources? Practically everything we know comes to us through others. Right now, for instance, you are receiving advice from another, namely me.
Question: Why is there no right to health care? Answer: The concept of an entitlement to health care has gained widespread support. Article 25 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including … medical care.” Both the Democratic and Republican Party Platforms include language affirming their commitments to maintain “accessible” and “affordable” health care.
Question: If happiness is the highest moral goal humans can achieve, selfishness is virtuous and people should only receive what they deserve (no gifts), does Objectivism endorse cruelty or, on the other hand, giving help or aid to other forms of life (including humans) when they increase the selfish person’s happiness?
Question: European views have diverged substantially with Objectivist thinking since the treaty of Maastricht. Given this, what would be a reasonable approach for the United States to influence the thinking of this highly developed region? Answer: Objectivism calls for a political and moral revolution. In politics, it calls for absolute respect for human rights to life, liberty, and property. This means the separation of the state from the economy as well as from religion. For more on this, see my Q&A: " What is the Objectivist View of Law and Government? " or my essay " Radical for Capitalism ."
Thomas Sowell had a fine column yesterday, celebrating the achievements of John D. Rockefeller. Better yet, he put his tribute in proper context: “ Heroes of Old Were Creators—Not Talkers .” That is a bit of an exaggeration, inasmuch as great orators have long been celebrated. Perhaps a better title would have been: “Heroes of Old Were Creators—Not Just Talkers.”
Question: In class we are discussing skepticism, and we are trying to make the distinction between the dream state and awake. I have made the case in class as follows: first "I think therefore I am": the mere fact that we are thinking of these issues implies that we have consciousness. If we have consciousness, then there must be existence in which our consciousness presides. Ergo, existence precedes consciousness.
Question: My parents want to give me an extravagantly expensive graduation gift—a telescope. I would like to own it, but I know that it would cost them more than they can afford. I want to accept, but I feel it’s inappropriate. They’ve already spent the past 22 years providing me with all of my needs. A telescope is not a further need.
Question: How does Objectivism see nursing facilities for the aging, such as hospice care? Answer: No Objectivist organization that I know of has a detailed position on nursing facilities for the aging. But here are some general principles any Objectivist would apply:
Question: Relevant Objectivist terms and definitions, as I understand them, are: EXISTENT: something that exists (and has a physical basis) UNIT: an existent regarded as a separate member of a group of two or more similar members CONCEPT: a mental integration of two or more units which are isolated according to a specific characteristic(s) and united by a specific definition
Question: What about taxes to pay for workers who get injured? Answer: What about workers taking responsibility for their own lives and well-being by either buying insurance, pooling their resources with other workers in, say, a voluntary union, or by refusing to work for firms that do not provide adequate disability insurance?
Question: Your center's position on animal rights is negative. Your position is based upon the belief that because rights are obtained from reasoning, and animals cannot reason, they cannot have rights.
Question: 1. The philosophy seems to promote man killing if he can reason it, but sometimes the reason is not really substantiated. What is to stop someone justifying themselves wiping out a species for a bad reason?
Winter 2010 -- Is U.S. government debt really hitting 100% of GDP soon? Or is the debt level actually closer to 65% of GDP at the end of 2010, as the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform reports?
Summer 2010 -- With the seemingly increasing polarization of the political landscape in America, and the first black president in office, racism continues to be a frequent topic of news stories. Some paint the Tea Party with the broad brush of racism, failing to apprehend any nuanced picture of the grass roots phenomenon and failing to perceive the prejudice inherent in such a knee jerk reaction. Meanwhile clear incidents of racism continue: including the 2008 burning of a predominantly African-American church in Massachusetts, done in protest of the election of Barack Obama.
In a case decided last Friday (December 10), a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of Prabhat Goyal , former CFO of Network Associates, Inc., the producer of antivirus and network security software formerly known as McAfee. What makes this reversal so remarkable is that the panel tossed out the verdict not on the basis of some misstatement of the applicable law by the judge.
Is U.S. government debt really hitting 100% of GDP soon? Or is the debt level actually closer to 65% of GDP at the end of 2010, as the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform reports? The answer is: yes.
Larry Ribstein has an excellent blog post on the end of what is probably the last backdating trial, that of Bruce Karatz, former CEO of KB Homes. Although the government had sought a prison term of six and half years, Judge Otis D. Wright sentenced Karatz to five years’ probation.
