tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post8463535850719728655..comments2024-03-21T03:55:51.565-07:00Comments on Omniorthogonal: First person pluralmtravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-40385287028258848592008-04-22T21:21:00.000-07:002008-04-22T21:21:00.000-07:00There is a definite tendency for libertarians to a...There is a definite tendency for libertarians to advocate <A HREF="http://www.theartofthepossible.net/2008/04/17/i-choose-atomization/" REL="nofollow">atomism</A>. I've been <A HREF="http://entitledtoanopinion.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/be-grateful-diversity-reduces-trust/" REL="nofollow">guilty</A> of it myself, not surprising my Stirnerism. It's not universal, though. Charles Murray pushes a communitarianism that Jeffrey Friedman (in a broader critique of justifications of libertarianism) <A HREF="http://www.tomgpalmer.com/papers/friedman-whatswrong-cr-v11n3.pdf" REL="nofollow">says</A> is not supported by his evidence.<BR/><BR/>The issue of atomism vs communitarianism in libertarians is sort of discussed in Jacob Levy's <A HREF="http://polisci.spc.uchicago.edu/%7Ejtlevy/JacobTLevy-SPP-LiberalismsDivide.pdf" REL="nofollow">Liberalism's Divide</A>.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-77405847940282967072008-04-22T10:04:00.000-07:002008-04-22T10:04:00.000-07:00tggp, thanks for all the great pointers you come u...tggp, thanks for all the great pointers you come up with. It's very educational to have you in the conversation.<BR/><BR/>Economics is guilty of atomistic thinking to various degrees, but libertarianism is <I>prescriptively</I> atomistic, which is very different.mtravenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-69095849731316107072008-04-22T01:18:00.000-07:002008-04-22T01:18:00.000-07:00At O&M it is questioned whether economics takes an...At O&M it is questioned whether economics takes an atomistic view <A HREF="http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2008/04/14/do-economists-believe-in-atomistic-individualism/" REL="nofollow">here</A>.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-32904656522748036572008-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:002008-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:00Imagine if someone had spent 20 years devoting the...<I>Imagine if someone had spent 20 years devoting themselves to elucidenating a model of humans as atomized individuals governed by rational self-interest.</I><BR/>I don't think even Gary Becker viewed people as atomized. The economist definition of "self-interest" also tends to verge on the tautological.<BR/><BR/>I'm as full of hate as ever for the Romantic Movement and wish death upon romance. I have as late become more skeptical of the Enlightenment and its associated rationalism (as opposed to empiricism/pluralism rather than some form of irrationalism) though.<BR/><BR/>You can compare some situations in which one is worse off due to having too much of the People's Romance, but can you think of any where the reverse is the case?<BR/><BR/>Though I'm fond of linking to that paper, I find Dan Klein kind of annoying and wishy-washy. He's obsessed with libertarianism (studying how unlibertarian academia is, though surely there are a disproportionately large number of them there) but has a vague sense of what it is, touting "Smith-Hayek economics" rather than simply "good economics" or some actual economic theory he believes to be correct. A more interesting thinker on those issues is <A HREF="http://entitledtoanopinion.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/food-for-thought/" REL="nofollow">Jeffrey Friedman</A>. I've read he used to be an anarchist but in current writings seems to take some amount of government for granted. I haven't read any such yet from him, but I'd guess he could come up with a better justification of the State than Rand, Nozick or Hospers.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.com