Tag Archives: Contractarianism

Strict contractarianism or anarchist conventionalism

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on June 7, 2011

The June 2011 issue of Economic Affairs features my review of Anthony de Jasay’s most recent collection of articles, Political Philosophy, Clearly: Essays on Freedom and Fairness, Property and Equalities. As in all his works, in this book Anthony de … Continue reading →

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The ethics of debt default

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on April 12, 2011

One of James Buchanan’s most interesting papers is The Ethics of Debt Default (1987), first published in the book Deficits (a collection of public choice articles about public debt and debt financing), edited by James M. Buchanan, Charles Kershaw Rowley, … Continue reading →

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Anthony de Jasay on liberalism, democracy and conventions

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on October 1, 2010

Despite losing his eyesight, Anthony de Jasay still publishes some of the most thought-provoking papers in social philosophy. In a recent article for the Institute of Economic  Affairs, de Jasay inspects the foundations of liberalism and observes that: In contrast … Continue reading →

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Thomas Ligotti, Karl Popper and antinatalism

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on July 16, 2010

In his recently published non-fiction work The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror the contemporary horror writer Thomas Ligotti takes Karl Popper’s “negative utilitarianism” to its ultimate conclusion: One who did not balk entirely was the Austrian-born … Continue reading →

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Anything that’s peaceful

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on May 28, 2010

Libertarians spend a non-trivial amount of time arguing for the obvious. At best, such arguments are redundant because there is no widespread believe that violence or threats of violence are a good thing. At worst, these debates hurt the prospects … Continue reading →

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