When we last left Rawls, he was trying to identify the 'concept' of justice--that is, what it is we're attributing to a society when we call it 'just.' Rawls claimed that a 'just' society conforms to the two principles of justice--viz., (i) each person has an equal right to liberty consistent with the same liberty … Continue reading Rawls [4], “Constitutional Liberty and the Concept of Justice” (1963)
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The Double
"With insomnia, nothing is real. Everything is far away. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy" (Fight Club, script here). Frank reports that Dostoevsky’s second novel, The Double, was more or less universally panned. I find this strange, considering it’s clearly a work of much more sophistication and certainly much more experimental … Continue reading The Double
Rationality and Fantasy Baseball
Lately I’ve been thinking about rationality. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the ways that economic models presuppose that individuals consistently act in their rational self-interest (and what economists count as a rational self-interest). Lately, I’ve also been thinking about my fantasy baseball team. I know that many OPers play or have played in fantasy baseball … Continue reading Rationality and Fantasy Baseball
The Petersburg Feuilletons
All over, people changing their votes, along with their overcoats, If Adolph Hitler were here today, they'd send a limousine anyway. -The Clash, "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" What, you may ask, is a “feuilleton”? Apparently it comes from French, but, what was surprising to me was it also passed muster with Word’s Spell Checker, which means … Continue reading The Petersburg Feuilletons
Translators
OK, I don't have any deep thoughts ready at hand for my inaugural blog post, just a question about a curious phrase I recently came across in a book. Well, not in the book proper, but in the front matter. So, I was idly browsing through the first few pages of the Penguin edition of … Continue reading Translators
Rawls [3], “Justice as Fairness” (1958)
In this essay Rawls investigates 'justice' as a property of social institutions (practices). What does it mean to describe an institution as just/unjust? He criticizes a utilitarian conception of justice, according to which an institution is just if it maximizes welfare, on the grounds that a social institution might maximize welfare at the expense of … Continue reading Rawls [3], “Justice as Fairness” (1958)
Dostoevsky’s Early Years and Poor Folk – or – “The Dickensian Aspect”
The rule I’ve set for myself is to read up until the point where Frank treats of a particular text at length, then to stop, read that text, then read what Frank has to say about it, and then respond, both to Frank, but also, more importantly, to Dostoevsky’s work itself. The first 136 pages … Continue reading Dostoevsky’s Early Years and Poor Folk – or – “The Dickensian Aspect”
Rawls [2], “Two Concepts of Rules,” (1955)
In this essay Rawls introduces a distinction between justifying a practice and justifying particular actions within a practice. The distinction is important, for it shows how utilitarians might rebut the common criticism that they are committed to endorsing acts like punishing the innocent and breaking promises when doing so will maximize the good. The main … Continue reading Rawls [2], “Two Concepts of Rules,” (1955)
Weakness of Will
According to the traditional philosophical analysis of weakness of will, the weak-willed agent acts contrary to her all-things-considered judgment concerning what she ought to do. This analysis is content-neutral, in the sense that it is not supposed to matter what the agent has concluded she ought to do--whatever it is, straying from that course of … Continue reading Weakness of Will
Rawls [1]: “Outline of a Decision Procedure in Ethics” (1951)
Most generally, this essay is about how to show that a given moral principle is 'objectively valid' and that actions in accordance with that principle are 'objectively right.' The central claim, so far as I can tell, is that a moral principle is objectively valid if it explains, better than any alternative principle, the "considered … Continue reading Rawls [1]: “Outline of a Decision Procedure in Ethics” (1951)
Original Positions 