  The New Zealand Election - Statism or Selfhood?
by Lindsay Perigo
I’m going to cast my vote for freedom and against Nanny State. I’ll be giving my party vote to Libertarianz and my constituency vote to Libertarianz leader Bernard Darnton in Wellington Central. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (15 messages)
Struthio Camelus Syndrome
by Eric Rockwell
A frightening epistemological disease is spreading rapidly throughout the world, leaving mankind mentally crippled as a result. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (7 messages)
Please Don't Feed The Trolls
by Adam Reed
The troll's long-term goal is to make converts, but in the short term his goal is to get his marks to consider his crackpottery intellectually respectable. His "proof" of purported intellectual respectability is that rational people consider his crackpottery debatable. The only effective countermeasure is to refuse to be drawn into the troll's project. Please don't feed the trolls. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (63 messages)
Why Intelligent Design Should Be Taught in Schools
by Chris Phoenix
Intelligent design is not, as I thought, a theory that God was involved in the design of organisms. Rather, it is a convoluted and counter-logical attempt to confuse people—not about evolution, but about science and even about civics. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (49 messages)
Drooling Beast
by James Kilbourne
This article is my explanation of what is wrong at SOLO. I am not a medical doctor or a therapist, so I stress: this is just my opinion. It is up to Linz whether he will let it be published. It is my hope that it will at least help people better understand my departure. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (140 messages)
Moral Outrage in Tehran!
by Steven Thomas Druckenmiller
This should not just be titled under a war for men's minds, but an all-out WAR on Islamic filth. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (72 messages)
Lessons Learned, Lessons Forgotten
by George W. Cordero
In the years that lie ahead of us, the topic of nuclear proliferation by Islamic theocracies will increasingly dominate the news. Voices from all sides of the political spectrum will lend their expert advice on the issue. The loudest voice that you will hear is the ever-present voice of appeasement and pacifism: the voice of the guilt-ridden and self-hating Western nations. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (135 messages)
Rousseau's "General Will" and Well-Ordered Society
by Edward W. Younkins
The idea of the general will is at the heart of Rousseau’s philosophy. The general will is not the will of the majority. Rather, it is the will of the political organism that he sees as an entity with a life of its own. The general will is an additional will, somehow distinct from and other than any individual will or group of individual wills. The general will is, by some means, endowed with goodness and wisdom surpassing the beneficence and wisdom of any person or collection of persons. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (12 messages)
The True-Answer National Lottery: A Free Market Solution to Terror
by Ed Thompson
In the afternoon, the time for showing-off had faded out, and all eyes had turned upward, to the tower where there was found a digital display: 900 ... 901 ... 902 .... All at the field had become silent, in a motionless stare on that slowly-changing number, which represented the payout, in millions, for finding and incapacitating the target—Osama bin Laden. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (12 messages)
Religious Addiction
by Roger E. Bissell
One kind of misuse of philosophy and religion is "religious addiction," a sickness comparable to drug and alcohol abuse. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (36 messages)
America’s Anthem: The Declaration of Independence
by James Kilbourne
America’s anthem is the inspiration for freedom everywhere and has become freedom’s anthem heard around the world. Whenever you hear news of people fighting for democracy, pause and give thanks for the Declaration of Independence. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (10 messages)
A Nostalgic July 4th Offering
by Lindsay Perigo
On Jefferson's Memorial are quoted his words, "I have pledged eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the minds of men." I echo that pledge today — and direct it especially against that most insidious form of tyranny, mob rule. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (8 messages)
Flushing the Koran or Reason Down the Toilet?
by Ed Hudgins
I've posted this link to a fine recent commentary on the evils of mysticism by Ed Hudgins, new executive director of The Objectivist Center, for two reasons. Not only does it speak bluntly on a vitally important issue, but it also refutes those who claim that his public position, and TOC's, is tepid or ambiguous on the issue of reason versus religious faith.
-- Robert Bidinotto (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (12 messages)
The Anti-Life Culture of Thug "Music"
by Steven Thomas Druckenmiller
Rap is anti-civilization, anti-success, and anti-life, and it is time Objectivists started waging philosophical war with these appalling ideas that “this is the way life is” and start offering up, instead, ideas about “the way life should be.” (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (68 messages)
The Fundamentalist Right: Why Objectivists Can't Afford to Spar with Liberal Religion
by Richard D. Engle
Fundamentalism and the rest of the Religious Right aren't just after you - they eat their own kind. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (28 messages)
Argument by Proxy
by Nathan Hawking
SOLO is a wonderful experience. It's vibrant, full of life, and full of people who care about ideas. It's refreshing to encounter those who actually change their minds when presented with sound arguments or compelling evidence. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (31 messages)
America’s Great Presidents (Part III)
by James Kilbourne
We need to have the courage to accept the fact that we are winning the war of ideas. The opposition in American politics - the left, as represented by the Democratic Party - is bereft of ideas. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (27 messages)
Let The Word Go Forth: The Torch Is Passed To A New Generation ... !
by Lindsay Perigo
It is with great pleasure, and not a small degree of relief, that I announce the appointment of Jason Dixon to the position currently held by me of Editor of SOLOHQ. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (36 messages)
National Day of Reason 2005 Speech
by Luke Setzer
The American secular community commenced National Day of Reason in recent years to offer a rational response to the federally recognized National Day of Prayer. Both holidays take place concurrently each year on the first Thursday of May. As SOLO Florida Coordinator, I arranged a local dinner event open to all freethinkers to celebrate National Day of Reason on May 5, 2005 with the floor open to anyone who wants a few minutes to make remarks about this contrast. This speech of mine will likely raise the hackles of some dinner guests who remain devoted parishioners of the faith of statism. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (10 messages)
Activism Plan
by Duncan Bayne
I spend a lot of time performing activities that broadly fit into the category of political activism. Writing letters, arguing online, posting to my blog, distributing pamphlets, talking politics with friends & colleagues ...
What I've needed for a while is a way of maximising the effectiveness of my activism, while ensuring that I don't get so busy landing blows for freedom that I don't have the time to enjoy the rest of my life, including the freedoms I manage to secure.
Here it is. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (6 messages)
The Veridicality of Conceptual Discernment
by Ed Thompson
[Editor's note - I post this one unedited, & without comment. Linz]
Knowledge is often signified by "justified true belief." It is this author's opinion that another signification would better help those seeking truth and understanding--and the value which flows from them. In this short essay, I will explore some past thinking errors (about knowledge and certainty) and offer productive solutions to these errors.
Being able to distinguish something from all other known entities (veridical conceptual discernment) is what "knowledge" is. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (98 messages)
Fun and Games on Earth Day 2002
by Luke Setzer
With Earth Day 2005 coming soon, I wanted to share some past experiences regarding what to expect should you decide to host an "Earth Day versus Man" booth at your local campus. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Reciprocal Altruism: Anti-Concept
by Ed Thompson
Reciprocal Altruism: Tit-for-tat behavior (the Trading Principle), applied to “generosity.” An offspring of Game theory, this code of behavior establishes generosity as the default mode, and reciprocity as an instructive guide toward repeated interaction with others. “Cooperators” respond in kind to generosity, “cheats” don’t (though cheats may start off quite generous - as a mere ploy in a sinister con-game). (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (71 messages)
Taking Responsibility
by Marcus Bachler
A current news item from Carlisle, a city in the North West of England, is a breath of fresh air against this pervasive modern-day “nanny knows best” mentality. (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (28 messages)
Seddon's Salvos - Long on Plato, Pt. 1
by Fred Seddon
Fred Seddon interviews Plato ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (32 messages)
|
