Capitalists, Note Well

[Hayek] argues that markets generally do not reward “merit.” That is, the people who become wealthy in the marketplace do not do so, for the most part, because they are somehow “better” people than those who are not as wealthy. [Merit is] not what the market rewards. The market rewards the creation of value in the form of providing goods and services that other people want. Period, end of sentence.

Something to keep in mind. From The Freeman Online via STR

Slush Mugs

There’s this box I haven’t unpacked sitting just out of reach. Its top is partway open. I can see there’s a “Slush Mug” in there. If you don’t know what a “Slush Mug” is, that sucks for you. The product of a “Slush Mug” is delicious.

Between me and the slush mug box there’s a stack of books that I really want to get into. I don’t see that happening this week or next.

These facts, and others, indicate that finishing some of the projects I’ve got open here is a way off.

A Sense of Proportion

The chancellor at Indiana University-Perdue University Indianapolis has apologized for accusing a janitor there of “racial harassment.”

Some are no doubt unsatisfied with the university’s apology, thinking it too little, too late. I think we should not get ahead of ourselves. We must maintain a sense of proportion here. Calling for the resignation of all key figures involved, or anything like that, would be inappropriate.

No, if the university were serious about redressing its mistake, not only would every official responsible for the accusation, the lateness of the apology, or its obvious insincerity be asked for his resignation, but all of the following measures would be implemented as well:

Continue reading A Sense of Proportion

Thinking About Thinking About Our Interlocutors

I wrote the following as part of an ongoing debate over my solution to the problem of universals. I leave it for the reader to surmise why I thought it worth sharing here.

Let me take a moment to make a meta-argument before I dive back in to addressing the comments in this thread.

I am working under the assumption that Ayn Rand is a hero to most of the participants here. Ayn Rand herself called the problem of universals “philosophy’s central issue.” Those who profoundly admire Ayn Rand do so, in large part, because of her achievements in philosophy. By any measure, then, Ayn Rand’s solution to the problem of universals is an important value to Objectivists.

Now, suppose I am right, and that Ayn Rand either did not solve the problem of universals, or only solved it partially. Ayn Rand’s philosophy then has an error of omission, at the least, down near its very roots in metaphysics.

From the perspective of hero-worshipping Objectivists, it could hardly matter whether this error is a minor error of omission or something more significant; the prospect that Objectivism could have a flaw at a point so fundamental in the hierarchy of philosophy should be disturbing.

Continue reading Thinking About Thinking About Our Interlocutors