Archive for Aeon J. Skoble

Aeon J. Skoble is professor of philosophy and chairman of the philosophy department at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Libertarianism, from A to Z

Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron’s primer on libertarian thought proceeds just as the title indicates: a collection of alphabetically arranged short essays on 105 topics. This is a more effective technique than one might imagine: Since many people unfamiliar with libertarianism approach it by way of specific questions and challenges, Miron provides answers. Readers of [...]

4Jan2012 | Aeon J. Skoble | 3 comments | Continued

The Individual and the Community

Last May sociologist Amitai Etzioni participated in a debate hosted by the Cato Institute in which he argued against the classical-liberal theory as being too atomistic, excessively concerned with selfish individualism, and neglectful of the importance of community. He’s been making this point for 20 years, which is strange for two reasons: First, it isn’t [...]

26Oct2011 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

America’s Greatness Requires War and Taxes?

New York Times columnist David Brooks thinks America is great but in trouble, and he wants to take steps to preserve American preeminence. He’s right, though not in the way he thinks. In his November 11, 2010, column Brooks argued that we need some sort of National Greatness Agenda; the problem is that his conception [...]

21Apr2011 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

In Defense of the Huddled Masses

In April Arizona attracted national attention when it enacted a strict anti-immigration law, SB1070, which authorizes police having “lawful contact” with a person who arouses “reasonable suspicion” that he is an illegal alien to make a “reasonable attempt . . . to determine the immigration status of the person.” The law is intended to make [...]

25Aug2010 | Aeon J. Skoble | 21 comments | Continued

Coercion Is the Only Way to Ensure Health?

Aeon J. Skoble is a professor of philosophy and chair of the philosophy department at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. In his April 11 New York Times column, economist Paul Krugman discusses the minor trouble then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton got into when an anecdote she told about a woman who died because she didn’t have [...]

1Jun2008 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

Life, Liberty, and Retirement Pensions

The right to acquire property is a staple of liberal political theory. But why would anyone bother accumulating property? If my monthly expenses are a thousand dollars, then what use could I possibly have for any monthly income larger than a thousand dollars? I could plausibly reason that if I work harder today, I might [...]

1Sep2005 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

Choice Is Too Burdensome?

It’s pretty well certain that the money taken in Social Security payroll taxes would produce greater returns if invested by your financial adviser than it is likely to produce in the government’s pyramid scheme. But proponents of maintaining the Social Security status quo object that not everyone has a financial adviser, and if people had [...]

1Jul2005 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

Decency Requires a Minimum-Wage Law?

The libertarian cliché that “at least the Republicans are right on economic policies” suffered another setback on the August 11, 2003, Los Angeles Times op-ed page, where Republican Douglas MacKinnon argues that anyone who cares about the poor should be ashamed of the failure of the Senate to raise the minimum wage. His essay is [...]

1Mar2004 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

Neither Slavery Nor Involuntary Servitude

The title of this essay refers to two things that are prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The first is no longer even controversial, yet the second is being suggested right now by several prominent academics and, more frighteningly, members of Congress. Despite the successes of the all-volunteer military currently employed by [...]

1Sep2003 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

America Is Headed Toward Plutocracy?

In a New York Times op-ed (June 14, 2002), columnist Paul Krugman lamented the increasing inequality between rich and poor, and expressed concern that this will lead to an erosion of democracy. He needn’t worry himself (more important, he needn’t worry his readers), since his argument depends on misleading arguments about wealth disparities and philosophical [...]

1Oct2002 | Aeon J. Skoble | 3 comments | Continued

Capitalism Is a Government Project?

As readers of Ideas on Liberty all know, politics cannot always be analyzed in simple left-right terms. But professional pundits like to choose up sides, with the “liberal” commentators traditionally being critical of capitalism and the “conservative” commentators supporting it. Lately, though, there’s been a disturbing amount of anti-free-market opining from the conservative team. Some [...]

1Jun2002 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

A Sense of Community Contradicts the Logic of the Market?

On September 8, 2001, distinguished New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis joined the ranks of those who claim both to appreciate the ways in which freedom and competition produce greater prosperity and to think that we cannot have civilized communities coexisting with that freedom. These contradictory claims were brought to the fore in his mind [...]

1Jan2002 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

Capitalists Should Love the Estate Tax?

Writing in the February 15 issue of online magazine Salon, philosophy professor Sam Fleischacker says that he found it “inspiring” that George Soros, Bill Gates Sr., Warren Buffett, and several other wealthy people had spoken out in favor of retaining the estate tax. Fleischacker argues that it is precisely defenders of capitalism who should “fervently [...]

1Jul2001 | Aeon J. Skoble | 3 comments | Continued

Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality by Tara Smith

Rowman and Littlefield • 2000 • 204 pages • $21.95 A fundamental problem in moral philosophy is the question of why one should be moral in the first place. Although moral philosophers since Plato have been giving answers to that question, it is the sort of question that is good to address regularly, not least [...]

1Apr2001 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

Big Brother Wants to Read Your E-mail

Some people concerned about privacy violations on the Internet object that many Web site operators collect and use information about visitors for demographic research and, yes, advertising. Although “anonymizer” services are available, the simplest way to preserve one’s privacy from such operators is simply to refrain from visiting their sites. After all, no one forces [...]

1Nov1999 | Aeon J. Skoble | 0 comments | Continued

The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785-1800 by Conor Cruise O’Brien

University of Chicago Press • 1996 • 385 pages • $29.95 Dr. Skoble is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Southeast Missouri State University. Although Thomas Jefferson is popularly known as a great statesman, historians have long been aware that he, like everyone else, was not as purely good as his popular image would suggest. [...]

1Jul1997 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | Continued

Freedom and Language

Fifty years ago, the world emerged from a military conflict with substantial intellectual ramifications. Nazism and fascism were ideologies that needed to be defeated along with the military powers that wielded them. During the ensuing “cold” war, communism and socialism emerged as ideologies that called for intellectual confrontation. Of course, the United States also fought [...]

1Sep1996 | Aeon J. Skoble | 5 comments | Continued
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