The Only Orthodoxy is Reason

It is endlessly fascinating to watch Chicago Mayor Richard Daley continue to fight any effort to overturn local laws absolutely prohibiting gun ownership, even inside of the home. In response to the landmark Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that the Second Amendment explicates an individual right to keep […]

On May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller, the controversial Kansas abortionist, was murdered in his church by a Christian fundamentalist.  Tiller was famous for his fearless provision of abortions — including late term (a.k.a. “partial-birth”) abortions — in the face of death threats and assassination attempts.  His murder has sparked a firestorm of controversy over […]

In the novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand paints American society as comprised of:
(1) a handful of individuals–mostly industrialists–of Promethean ability and drive, who ask no favors, accept no charity, make no excuses, and demand nothing from the world other than to be left alone to do their work without intrusive regulations or confiscatory taxes (we’ll […]

Today Senator Arlen Spector became the 13th U.S. senator to defect from his party since direct senatorial election began in 1913, also likely handing the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority. Though nothing may be done at this point to save the seat, we can ask how appropriate it is for an elected official to switch sides […]

Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?
– Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
[Author’s note: below is a short story attempting to answer Douglas Adams’ question.  I’d like readers to ponder whether Adams’ question […]

Perhaps 2009 will prove to be the final round in the fight for liberty’s life.  Liberty, as defined in the Hobbesian colonists’ sense of the word, has long been subject to any number of restrictions.   Americans may not enter into any business they like, or with any person, or at any price, or in any […]

The word argument carries a connotation of contentiousness. A proper argument is a quest for truth, though we may occasionally lose sight of this fact and begin to think the purpose of argument is to assert dominance – to win […]

Racism
Function: noun
Date: 1933 1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race […]

In Leviathan, Hobbes entertained a thought experiment in which he reduced man to his fundamental essence, so as to reason, free of doctrinal prejudice, from first principles to a coherent theory on how man ought to be governed.   Starting with the now-famous presumption that life for this primitive man was “nasty, brutish, and short,” […]

When one has a major decision to make, it’s important to take a step back and understand not only the decision and its ramifications, but some key assumptions that lead you to the point of considering one’s various alternatives.  Are the known facts of the case correct or in error?  Does the line of reasoning […]

Here’s a simple question that arose during a conversation I was having with a friend of mine, to which I realized I had no satisfactory answer:
Are violent video games sinful?
For those not familiar with the medium of video games, it is a multi-billion dollar per year industry.  The median age of video game players in […]

During the last eight years, America has been especially committed to the ideal of spreading democracy around the globe, largely due to the efforts of the Bush administration.  The administration expressed this ideal through the Bush Doctrine, which, for the first time, explicitly dedicated America to aiding democratic nations because they were (nominally) democratic, regardless of whether […]

Jeremy Bentham is credited with the description and inception of legal positivism in response to what he viewed as often arbitrary and unfair application of law within the English common law system. Positivism is an attempt to define the essence and nature of the law […]

On January 20th, Barack Obama will take the Presidential oath of office and bring to an end the most contentious and divisive presidency in a generation, the presidency of George W. Bush.  A major reason for the Bush administration’s unpopularity has been its expansion of state power and influence in a manner not seen since […]

This week, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the voting results of its induction balloting from 2008. Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson will be inducted into Cooperstown this summer after receiving the required 75% of the vote. Former A’s and Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, however, will not be inducted; he received 21% of the vote.
Mark […]