Gus diZerega

WORKING PAPER Outgrowing Methodological individualism: Emergence, spontaneous order, and civil society

Posted on July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 by Gus

working paper – comments encouraged.

“It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.”

Deng Xiaoping

“it depends in the end on what one’s definition of methodological individualism is.”

Bruce Caldwell

Abstract

Methodological … Read more

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The troubling case of eugenics

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

In the late 1880s Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton advocated applying scientific insights to human reproduction. He label his proposed science “eugenics.” Galton argued that just as physical traits were obviously inherited, the same could be said for mental qualities. In … Read more

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The Roots of Religious Nihilism

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

Medieval theologians wondered about the nature of Divinity as much as anyone. Arguing in opposition to St. Thomas Aquinas’s views that God did what was good because God was good, and so acted reasonably, the scholastic Duns Scotus claimed that … Read more

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The Hypnosis of Texts

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

The medium we use for communication influences the nature of what we communicate. Because we communicate through these mediums, we are often unaware of how they shape what it is we communicate.

David Abram’s Spell of the Sensuous argued that … Read more

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The Corporation, American Nihilism and Mafia Capitalism

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

The nihilism growing in America manifests in many ways, but three are particularly worrisome. Two, Neoconservatism and the religious right, will get chapters of their own because they reflect the major forms nihilism takes while battling the cultural and spiritual … Read more

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The DDT Lie

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

When I was invited a few years ago to attend a meeting of the once classical liberal Mt. Pelerin Society in Salt Lake City I was surprised to hear little in the way of informed conversation about markets and ecologies. … Read more

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The Pathology of NeoConservative ‘Manliness’

Posted on June 1, 2020June 19, 2020 by Gus

Harvey Mansfield is a leading Neoconservative scholar, as well as having been Bill Kristol’s mentor at Harvard. In 2006 Mansfield published Manliness to facilitate supposedly emasculated American males in regaining pride in their inner selves, while persuading emasculating American women … Read more

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Iraq — Let us not forget those who were right: the case for a national day of mourning

Posted on June 1, 2020June 1, 2020 by Gus

As we observe the ten year anniversary of the Iraq War we should not forget those who opposed this catastrophic and evil action. Not a single terrorist on 9-11 was Iraqi and it has become clear to all interested in … Read more

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Appendices

Posted on June 1, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

Here are the appendices for Faultlines

Mythos and time

The Roots of Religious Nihilism

Masculine Boundaries: a bar fight

Science and the Feminine

The troubling case of eugenics

The Corporation, American Nihilism and Mafia Capitalism

A Brief … Read more

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Strange Bedfellows: The Christian Right, Radical Islam, and the Hindu Right

Posted on June 1, 2020June 1, 2020 by Gus

Radical Islam easily finds common ground with the religious right on women’s issues. This point ultimately led Dinesh D’Souza to blame American cultural freedoms for the Islamic radicals’ legitimate dislike of us! D’Souza is an important conservative writer, biographer of … Read more

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