Tag Archives: Libertarianism

Darwinian Politics

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on July 6, 2011

Paul H. Rubin’s Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom is a fine introduction to the sociobiology of politics. Rubin is a self-identified libertarian but he makes a serious attempt to avoid dogmatism and consider evidence that points in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Evolution, Politics, Voting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Pattern junkies and the financial meltdown

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on December 19, 2010

In an opinion piece for Forbes, legal scholar Richard A. Epstein draws attention to the political philosophical aspects of the financial meltdown: Fannie and Freddie didn’t design their horrific lending policies by chance. No, behind this lending fiasco lay the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Society | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Rights: nonsensical, empirical and hypothetical

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on December 18, 2010

If there is one thing that characterizes contemporary political discourse, and contemporary political liberalism in particular, it is the obsession with “rights.” Individual rights are absolute, or “trumps,” that do not permit to be overridden by collective goals, and can … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

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 →

Posted in Anarchism, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Rand Paul and the anti-discrimination paradigm

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on May 20, 2010

In the aftermath of the Rand Paul civil rights controversy a surprising number of self-identified libertarians have endorsed state-restrictions on freedom of association. In essence, the argument is that historical and contextual circumstances can warrant the broadening of anti-discrimination laws … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off