 Productive Understanding
by Joseph Rowlands
I find that often when people are trying to understand an idea, they aren't taking it very seriously. Perhaps its how they learned in school, where the point was to retain enough to select an appropriate answer on a test. There is no attempt to get a deep understanding. They seem to aim for a superficial understanding.... (Read more...)
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Are You an Emotional Vampire?
by Mark Manson
Emotional vampires exhibit three specific traits simultaneously: an excessive need for validation/attention from others, the belief that little to nothing that occurs is their fault, and the lack of self-awareness to recognize their self-defeating patterns. People who are familiar with Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden will recognize that these are three of the six pillars — or rather, a lack of three of the pillars. (Read more...)
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On Rape and Pragmatism
by Tibor R. Machan
Something not often noted in the discussion of rape across the globe is that in an age that prizes pragmatism as opposed to firm principles of conduct, even rape can be excused based on the expected benefit to the rapist versus injury to the victim. (Read more...)
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Saturday
December 14, 2013 |
A Priori Knowledge
by Joseph Rowlands
I'm reading a book about the methodology of Austrian Economics, and it discusses the foundational premises as a kind of a priori knowledge. In this context, it is not intended to mean that we are born with this knowledge or that it is self-evident in the literal sense. It isn't automatic knowledge. It is still the p... (Read more...)
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Learning versus Formulating Concepts
by Joseph Rowlands
Ayn Rand described the process of concept formation in her book Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. The process focuses on how concepts are originally formed. It involves finding similarities between units, differentiating them from other things, integrating them through measurement omission, providing a name f... (Read more...)
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The Corruption of Individual Rights
by Tibor R. Machan
Whenever a good idea surfaces, there will surely be many who will try to hitch their wagon to it filled with corrupt versions that aim to serve numerous purposes having little to do with the original good idea. One example is the idea of individual natural human rights. (Read more...)
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A Proposal to Completely Eliminate Federal Income Tax
by Paul Hibbert
Craig Biddle in his article, How Would Government Be Funded in a Free Society?, in The Objective Standard makes a convincing argument for a means for voluntary funding of legitimate government activities. However, I think that more motivation is required to accomplish this ideal. The article details a means of directing funds according to the political and economic aspirations of the individual donors. (Read more...)
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So then Be A Proud Socialist!
by Tibor R. Machan
It is disgusting to witness all the dishonesty surrounding the current administration's public policy efforts. Even the new language columnist of The New York Times Magazine is in denial and pretends to consider it some kind of smear--even conspiracy--for those not among Mr. Obama's fan base to refer Obama & Co. as socialists. Why? (Read more...)
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ALIGNING the CITIZEN
by Manfred F. Schieder
Aligning the citizen to its politico-social credo, which is the declared purpose of every collectivist and collectivist biased intellectual or politician, uses education to mould the citizen to whatever it commands, i.e.to adapt to what the ruling group demands. The Montessori method opposes this purpose by teaching the growing child to grasp the nature of reality, learn to deal with it and use his acquired knowledge to assert himself as an individual. (Read more...)
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"Rewards" of Determinism?
by Tibor R. Machan
Anytime in arguments among intellectuals motivations are introduced, one
risks taking a false step. First, few people know why others champion a
position on some controversial topic, although sometimes one can guess
fairly well. Still, it is strictly speaking bad form to raise the issue of
motives. (Read more...)
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The Survivor Syndrome: Overcoming Organizational Trauma in Times of Crisis
by Fred Kofman
Commentary by Manfred F. Schieder: This article undertakes the hard task of providing a therapeutic method to overcome the shock and personal damage that the financial disaster presently engulfing the world produced and produces to the management as well as the employees of companies now facing its harmful consequences. Not only the financial but also the physical wellbeing of everybody will be influenced by this situation. A short curriculum of Fred Kofman will be found at the end of the article itself. (Read more...)
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What does the success of science involve?
by Ed Thompson
In a Wiki-entry entitled Scientific Realism, the question that is the title to this piece was posed somewhat rhetorically. This essay offers an answer to this question. (Read more...)
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A Fine Line
by Eric Rockwell
This fictional account examines the purpose of principles, their application, and how they can be betrayed and abandoned by those that are the most devoted to them. (Read more...)
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Burdens of Proof
by Joseph Rowlands
A lot of debates revolve around where the burden of proof lies. Which side needs to prove their point, and does the other side simply get to argue against that point, or do they have to prove their own position? (Read more...)
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