Of all the Micah Tillmans in the world — and there are at least three — … I am this one.
Posted in Theory (Politics) on Jul 10th, 2010
Politician: “Hey Paul, have some money” Paul: “Thanks, man! Where’d you get it?” Politician: “Oh, I printed some. Got the rest from Peter.” Paul: “You mean Peter bought something from you?” Politician: “Yeah, he bought another year of not having to go to jail for tax evasion.” Paul: “Oh. That’s good. Sounds like you both [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on May 27th, 2010
Yesterday I argued that there are three possible grounds for freedom: doubt, universalism, and the lex talionis. There is, however, also a fourth (primarily popular amongst libertarians), namely, rights — especially property rights — especially the property rights one has over oneself. To have property is to have the right to decide how to use [...]
Posted in Culture, Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on May 26th, 2010
Whiny Introduction As a libertarian type, I worry a lot about people using the government (and thus, ultimately, the police force) to tell other people what to do, say, write, buy, watch, etc. (or not do, not say, not write, not buy, not watch, etc.). In fact, the number of people who want to control [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Religion, Theory (Politics) on May 21st, 2010
Aristotle and Plato and Aquinas and every other political philosopher in the West before the modern era said it was the job of government to make people good. The function of laws were to teach you to live the virtuous life. This is what I shall call the “Goodness at Gunpoint” (or “Sweetness at Swordpoint”) [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Theory (Politics) on Feb 18th, 2010
So, to prove that I hadn’t just made up the Bizarre Ontology — but rather that it was something that people actually believe — I used the “frontispiece” from Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan. Now, I would like to use Hobbes’ main philosophical rival, John Locke. Locke writes (Second Treatise, Section 145): For though in a commonwealth [...]
Posted in Culture, Ethics (Philosophy), Events (Politics), Theory (Politics) on Feb 4th, 2010
(Don’t you think?) You may recall my recent discussions of the “Bizarre Ontology” that makes individuals responsible for things other people in their “group” do — even when they disagree with what those other people are doing — because it treats groups as the primary reality of which individuals are mere appendages or manifestations. You [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on Jan 25th, 2010
This is something I keep thinking about as the health care debate continues to drag on. This is what I’ve got so far. ____ Table of Contents I. Quintads II. Active and Passive, Fore and Aft A. Active and Passive Rights B. Fore and Aft Quintads C. Active and Passive Duties III. Transferable Duties IV. [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Theory (Politics) on Jan 20th, 2010
You remember last post? The one where I said that many people hold to a “bizarre ontology” that claims, “The separate individuals you see are really just manifestations of the group, which is the reality that lies behind them and acts through them (and upon whom you act through the individuals you see)”? Remember that [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Scripture (Religion), Theory (Politics) on Dec 3rd, 2009
I’m listening now to Dr. John D. Currid‘s lectures on “Judges through Poets” from RTS. To set the background for Judges, he’s discussing Joshua, and the Israelite invasion of the Promised Land. This, naturally, leads to the problem of what appears to be not only God-sanctioned, but God-instructed genocide. ____ Moses, claiming to be speaking [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Theory (Politics) on Nov 6th, 2009
I was explaining the Classical Hierarchy of Being to my classes today. We’re studying Augustine, you see, and you can’t understand Augustine if you don’t understand his view of the overall order of the universe. This is how the universe looked to most classical Christian thinkers: They wouldn’t have used the term “energy,” but what [...]
