The Curious Task

In August of 2022, Alex spoke with Paige MacPherson about school choice - and the lack thereof - in each of Canada's provinces. References 1. Paige’s articles, The Fraser Institute Link: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/paige-macpherson  2. Paige’s Blog Link: https://www.paigetmacpherson.com/blog  3. “Public, private, and charter schools: How they compare” by Understood Link: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/public-private-and-charter-schools-how-they-compare  4. “Explore: The Canadian education system by province and territory” by Future Learn Link: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/futurelearn-international/canada-public-education-by-province

Alex Aragona speaks with Peter Jaworski as he explores his definition of libertarianism, and how different kinds of morality can lead to certain conclusions about libertarian institutions. References Peter Jaworski is the co-author of the book, Markets without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests, which is available for purchase on Amazon Canada at this link. Peter mentions B. van der Vossen’s article on self-ownership published on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which can be read here. The general article on libertarianism starts at this link. You can read more about Jonathan Haidt’s moral foundations theory on the website, moralfoundations.org. Peter mentions the three-way division between people cited in Jason Brennan’s book, Against Democracy, which is also available on Amazon Canada at this link.  This article on libertarianism.org captures David Hume’s is-ought dichotomy that was briefly mentioned by Peter during the podcast.  The Acton Institute publishes many articles that demonstrate how their theological views endorse libertarian institutions on their website, acton.org. You can read John Stuart Mill’s libertarian conclusions in On Liberty at this link. Peter mentions Chris Freiman during the episode, who has published blogposts on learnliberty.org.    You can read more about the natural rights argument of Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in this article on libertarianism.org.  The Lockean-Nozick justification of property rights has also been written about in this article on libertarianism.org. Here is the link to Ayn Rand’s book, The Virtue of Selfishness, that explores the concept of ethical egoism. Michael L. Frazer has a book on Adam Smith’s theory of sentimentalism and how it departs from that of David Hume, which can be accessed here. You can purchase Michael Huemer’s book, Ethical Institutionalism, that was recommended by Peter at this link. Jan Narveson makes a contractarian case for libertarianism in this article on libertarianism.org. Here is Roderick Long’s article, Eudaimonist Libertarianism, that was published on bleedingheartlibertarians.org. Dan Sanchez published an article called, In Defense of Mises’s Utilitarianism, through the Mises Institute and is available for reading here. Here is Kevin Vallier’s article, A Rawlisan Case for Libertarianism, which also draws parallels to F. A. Hayek.  You can explore Milton Friedman’s natural rights-oriented political philosophy in his book, Capitalism and Freedom, which can be purchased from Amazon Canada at this link. Here is a joint article by John Tomasi and Matt Zwolinski called, A Bleeding Heart History of Libertarianism, which was published in Cato Unbound and can be read at this link.  This is a link to the Libertarian Party of the United States. Deirdre McCloskey elaborated on her idea of The Great Enrichment in this article published on the Foundation for Economic Education.

Tony Gill, an expert on tipping, discusses the origins and complexities of tipping, exploring the confusion and frustration associated with the practice. He delves into the concept of price discrimination and its relationship with tipping. Cultural differences and the importance of social norms in supporting free markets are also discussed.

Alex speaks with Kevin Vallier about his new book "All The Kingdoms Of The World", in which he takes a global view of anti-liberal integralist strands in political thought and warns of the consequences of following them toward a rejection of liberal freedom and democracy.  Episode Notes: The conversation focuses primarily on Kevin’s book:https://www.kevinvallier.com/books/all-the-kingdoms-of-the-world-radical-religious-alternatives-liberalism/  Introduction to Catholic Political Integralism: https://thejosias.com/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralism  Introduction to islamic political anti-liberalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism  “The Confucian Tradition and Politics” Youngmin Kim, Ha-Kyoung Lee and Seongun Park https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.991

Alex speaks with Stefanie Haeffele about her recent book Living Better Together, which explores the work of Elinor Ostrom and Viviana Zelizer.  Episode Notes: "Living Better Together" by Stefanie Haeffele and Virgil Henry Storr: https://a.co/d/hJNCxw6  Viviana Zelizer's homepage at Princeton: https://sociology.princeton.edu/people/viviana-zelizer  Elinor Ostrom's bio and short autobiography on the Nobel website: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/ostrom/facts/  Nonneutrality of Money in a Social Perspective by Julia Włodarczyk https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274184545_Nonneutrality_of_Money_in_a_Social_Perspective  Zelizer's "Circuits of Commerce" https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520241367.003.0009 Ostrom's "Governing The Commons" https://a.co/d/gcUDVWq  Economic Lives: How Culture Shapes the Economy by Viviana A. Zelizer https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691139364/economic-lives  "Testing Circuits of Commerce in the Distant Past: Archaeological Understandings of Social Relationships and Economic Lives" by: Crystal A. Dozier https://www.springerprofessional.de/testing-circuits-of-commerce-in-the-distant-past-archaeological-/23930708   

Alex speaks with Scott Scheall about Carl and Karl Menger and their influence on the history of economics, liberal theory, and - yes - mathematics.    Further Reading: "Karl Menger as Son of Carl Menger" - Scott Scheall & Reinhard Schumacher https://philarchive.org/rec/SCHKMA-4  Econlib Biography of elder Menger: https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Menger.html  1871. Principles of Economics. Translated by J. Dingwall and B. F. Hoselitz, with an introduction by Friedrich A. Hayek. New York: New York University Press, 1981.   1892. “On the Origin of Money.” Economic Journal 2 (June): 239–255.   “Mises Introduces the Austrian School,” http://mises.org/daily/3512 from Ludwig von Mises, Memoirs.   Joseph T. Salerno, “Biography of Carl Menger: The Founder of the Austrian School (1840-1921),” http://mises.org/about/3239   Biography of Karl Menger    https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/kmenger.htm    Including the following Major Works: Dimensiontheorie, 1928 "On Intuitionism", 1930, Blatter der deutschen Pilosophy Kurventheorie, 1932 "The New Logic", 1933, in Krise und Neuaufbau in den Exackten Wissenschaften Moral Wille und Weltgestaltung, 1934. "The Role of Uncertainty in Economics", 1934, ZfN "Remarks on the Law of Diminishing Returns: A study in meta-economics", 1936, ZfN "The Logic of Laws of Return: A study in meta-economics", 1954, in Morgenstern, editor, Economic Activity Analysis. "Austrian Marginalism and Mathematical Economics", 1973, in Hicks and Weber, editors, Carl Menger and the Austrian School of Economics Morality, decision, and social organization : toward a logic of ethics, 1974. Selected Papers in Logic and Foundations, Didactics, Economics, 1979. Reminiscences of the Vienna Circle and the Mathematical Colloquium, 1994.   (ed. L. Golland, B. McGuinness and A. Sklar) [prev] "On the direction of ideas and the principal tendencies of the Vienna Mathematical Colloqium", 1998,  in E. Dierker &  K. Sigismund, editors, Karl Menger Ergebnisse eines Mathematischen Kolloquiums    

Alex speaks with Jason Lee Byas about the complexities of responding to questions of historic injustice, reparations, and compensation within a libertarian framework.  Originally Aired as Episode 140 on Wednesday May 04, 2022  References 1. Articles by Jason Lee Byas, Center for a Stateless Society  Link: https://c4ss.org/content/author/jason-byas  2. “Rectification and Historic Injustice” by Jason Lee Byas Link: https://philpapers.org/archive/BYARAH.pdf  3. “A Black Commons: A Framework for Recognition, Reconciliation, and Reparations” by Julian Agyeman and Kofi Boone  Link: https://www.academia.edu/113180745/The_Black_CommonsA_Framework_for_Recognition_Reconciliation_Reparations  4. “Compensation for Historic Injustices: Completing the Boxill and Sher Argument” by Andrew I. Cohen Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40212837.pdf  5. “Should Race Matter?: Unusual Answers to the Usual Questions” by David Boonin Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Should-Race-Matter-Unusual-Questions/dp/0521149800  6. “The Ethics of Liberty” by Murray N. Rothbard Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Ethics-Liberty-Murray-N-Rothbard/dp/0814775594  7. “Historical Rights and Fair Shares” by A. John Simmons Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3505011  8. “The Multiculturalism of Fear” by Jacob Levy Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Multiculturalism-Fear-Jacob-T-Levy/dp/0198297122  9. “Apologies and Moral Repair: Rights, Duties, and Corrective Justice” by Andrew I. Cohen Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Apologies-Moral-Repair-Corrective-Justice/dp/0367508036

Alex speaks with Nigel Ashford about the prospects for a freer world and how the memory of history, the hope of younger persons, and the teaching of ideas can shape the future of classical liberalism.    Further Reading: https://libertarianism.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/socin003.pdf Chapter 2 of this book: https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Blundell-interactive.pdf https://fee.org/articles/the-tide-in-the-affairs-of-men/ https://cdn.mises.org/Intellectuals%20and%20Socialism_4.pdf https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/why-do-intellectuals-oppose-capitalism http://wordlist.narod.ru/Government-Failure.pdf

Alex speaks with Jake Monaghan about ideal vs. ideal theory approaches to policing, the history and function of the police as an institution, and how to respond to police abolitionists.  Episode Notes Jake's book - the subject of the conversation - can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/ewVS0h9  References are made to G. A. Cohen's Why Not Socialism, which can be read here: https://www3.nd.edu/~pweithma/Readings/Cohen,%20Gerald/Cohen,%20G%20(Why%20not%20Socialism).pdf  ... and to "The Dispossessed", which can be read here:  https://files.libcom.org/files/Le%20Guin%20-%20The%20Dispossessed.pdf 

Alex speaks with Trevour Burrus about his concept of the Statrix and why the solution to every problem should not be more government programs, intervention and restriction.  Episode Notes: Introductory YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eavx1ZVVyzM    Seeing the Statrix: Invisible and Omnipresent by Trevor Burrus: https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/burrus-cap-research-center-10-18-2018.pdf    The Boris Yeltsin Grocery Store Visit: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/When-Boris-Yeltsin-went-grocery-shopping-in-Clear-5759129.php#photo-6130394    Trevor’s CATO article about the dairy industry: https://www.cato.org/commentary/rebel-farmers-government-cartels-how-new-deal-cartelized-us-agriculture