Libertarianism, Climate Change Denial, Democracy (In Chains)
David Schweickart ,Loyola University Chicago
Friday, April 12, 2019 at 5:00 pm, COE, Room 164
An Informal Reception to Follow
In 2016, Jason Brennan, a prominent libertarian philosopher, published a provocative book entitled Against Democracy. Schweickart will engage with Brennan, arguing that there is a crucial connection between libertarianism and climate-change denialism which has serious political implications for the future of our species.
Professor Schweickart holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics (University of Virginia) and a Ph.D. in Philosophy (Ohio State University). His primary areas of research are social and political philosophy, philosophy and economics, and Marxism.
He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the area of "Market Socialism" which he calls "Economic Democracy." His publications in this area include After Capitalism, Capitalism Or Worker Control?, Against Capitalism, and Market Socialism: The Debate Among Socialists (with B. Ollman, J. Lawler, and H. Ticktin).
His work has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, French, Norwegian, Slovak, Farsi, and Catalan.
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Post-postscript...
The trouble with Hooligans
Robert B. Talisse
Philosophy Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
ABSTRACT
This essay covers two criticisms of Brennan’s Against Democracy. The first
charges that the public political ignorance findings upon which Brennan relies
are not epistemically nuanced to the degree required by his argument. The
second covers an internal difficulty with his trio of political personae, hobbits,
Vulcans, and hooligans. As it is part of the nature of hooligans to take
themselves to be Vulcans, any epistocratic arrangement that does not favor
the hooligans’ perspectives will be met by them with hostility. Thus, it is not
clear whether any epistocratic order could be stable if Brennan’s tripartite
scheme of political personalities is correct. Finally, the paper raises the
possibility that Brennan’s favored forms of epistocracy are ultimately not truly
anti-democratic at all, but rather forms of democracy epistemic enhancement.
ARTICLE HISTORY Received 30 May 2018; Accepted 18 June 2018
KEYWORDS Brennan, Jason; political ignorance; democracy; epistocracy
Although the word ‘democracy’ is commonly used to denote all that is
good in politics, democracy is actually a curious proposal. It is the thesis
that free and equal persons can be morally obligated to live according
to rules that they reject. In fact, democracy claims that you may be
required to live according to rules that you reject, simply because those
rules are favored by others. Put more starkly, democracy is the thesis that
there are conditions under which forcing a person to live according to
rules she rejects is nevertheless consistent with a due recognition of her
status as a free and equal moral person. According to views of democracy
that define freedom and equality in terms of the office of democratic citi-
zenship, the exercise of force is not merely consistent with a due recog-
nition of freedom and equality – it is required by it... (continues)
INQUIRY
https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2018.1502933
Friday, April 12, 2019 at 5:00 pm, COE, Room 164
An Informal Reception to Follow
In 2016, Jason Brennan, a prominent libertarian philosopher, published a provocative book entitled Against Democracy. Schweickart will engage with Brennan, arguing that there is a crucial connection between libertarianism and climate-change denialism which has serious political implications for the future of our species.
Professor Schweickart holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics (University of Virginia) and a Ph.D. in Philosophy (Ohio State University). His primary areas of research are social and political philosophy, philosophy and economics, and Marxism.
He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the area of "Market Socialism" which he calls "Economic Democracy." His publications in this area include After Capitalism, Capitalism Or Worker Control?, Against Capitalism, and Market Socialism: The Debate Among Socialists (with B. Ollman, J. Lawler, and H. Ticktin).
His work has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, French, Norwegian, Slovak, Farsi, and Catalan.
==
Postscript. Professor Brennan takes issue with Professor Schweikart:It promises to be a spirited Lyceum!
"Pace what Schweikart insinuates, I am not a climate change denier. In this chapter from my 2018 OUP book In Defense of Openness, my co-author and I acknowledge climate change is a very serious issue, and talk at length about the difficult trade-off between promoting economic growth (through open borders and trade) as a means of helping the poor while also trying to reduce the threat of climate change. We rely heavily on recent Nobel prize-winner Nordhaus’s (by no means a libertarian) models for part of our argument."
==
Post-postscript...
The trouble with Hooligans
Robert B. Talisse
Philosophy Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
ABSTRACT
This essay covers two criticisms of Brennan’s Against Democracy. The first
charges that the public political ignorance findings upon which Brennan relies
are not epistemically nuanced to the degree required by his argument. The
second covers an internal difficulty with his trio of political personae, hobbits,
Vulcans, and hooligans. As it is part of the nature of hooligans to take
themselves to be Vulcans, any epistocratic arrangement that does not favor
the hooligans’ perspectives will be met by them with hostility. Thus, it is not
clear whether any epistocratic order could be stable if Brennan’s tripartite
scheme of political personalities is correct. Finally, the paper raises the
possibility that Brennan’s favored forms of epistocracy are ultimately not truly
anti-democratic at all, but rather forms of democracy epistemic enhancement.
ARTICLE HISTORY Received 30 May 2018; Accepted 18 June 2018
KEYWORDS Brennan, Jason; political ignorance; democracy; epistocracy
Although the word ‘democracy’ is commonly used to denote all that is
good in politics, democracy is actually a curious proposal. It is the thesis
that free and equal persons can be morally obligated to live according
to rules that they reject. In fact, democracy claims that you may be
required to live according to rules that you reject, simply because those
rules are favored by others. Put more starkly, democracy is the thesis that
there are conditions under which forcing a person to live according to
rules she rejects is nevertheless consistent with a due recognition of her
status as a free and equal moral person. According to views of democracy
that define freedom and equality in terms of the office of democratic citi-
zenship, the exercise of force is not merely consistent with a due recog-
nition of freedom and equality – it is required by it... (continues)
INQUIRY
https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2018.1502933
In M'boro 4.12.19:
"Imagine for a moment a world where cities have become peaceful and serene because cars and buses are whisper quiet..."
"A Miraculous Moment"
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