Klebold, Free-Will, and Responsibility- May 20, 2004 -- In his column on the Klebolds, parents of Columbine killer Dylan, David Brooks writes: My instinct is that Dylan Klebold was a self-initiating moral agent who made his choices and should be condemned for them. Neither his school nor his parents determined his behavior. Brian Leiter rather uncharitably decides to read Brooks's comment as either an espousal of incompatibilist libertarian free will (nothing to do with political libertarianism), or an expression of ignorance. Regarding the...http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/klebold-free-will-and-responsibility.html Consent & Legitimacy- May 12, 2004 -- Very interesting post by Chris Bertam on the problem of intergenerational sovereignty. I agree with Jacob Levy in the comments that the problem basically tells us to pick only one: consent theory or the possibility of state legitimacy. (Not to say we HAVE to pick either.) I also agree that tacit consent is not consent. The best we can hope for is hypothetical consent. But then that's not consent at all. The idea of hypothetical consent boils down to the idea of what we would consent to if we.http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/consent-legitimacy.html Comments- May 11, 2004 OK. So, I'm having trouble with the Blogger comments. The old system is back in its place of prominence.http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/comments.html Ayn Rand and Nation-Building- May 11, 2004 Check out this this fascinating post by Chris Sciabarra over at Liberty and Power.http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/ayn-rand-and-nation-building.html Scanlon on Objectivity- May 11, 2004 -- In "Contractualism and Utilitarianism," and then again in What we Owe to Each Other, T. M. Scanlon compares the alleged objectivity of morality with that of mathematics. In fact, her writes: In moral judgments, as in mathematical ones, we have a set of putatively objective beliefs in which we are inclined to invest a certain degree of confidence and importance. Yet on reflection it is not at all obvious what, if anything, these judgments can be about, in virtue of which some can be said to..http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/scanlon-on-objectivity.html New Blogger- May 10, 2004 -- The new edition of Blogger looks great. They now have a comment system!, which I am implementing. (Try it out! Needs some formatting...) The puzzle is how to keep my old comments in the archives. For now, I'll just have them both. The isolated number, like this n, is the link to the old comments. The link that says comments is the new Blogger system. If anyone knows of a permanent fix, please let me know.http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/new-blogger.html Oh, God!- May 5, 2004 -- From Brio Magazine, it's Ask Suzie! ... Dear Susie: Brio gives me comfort and conviction in my relationship with Christ, and I'm so grateful for that! However there's one element that's bothering me. I have many non-Christian friends, and it frustrates me that you say they're sinners. Does that mean there will be billions of people who will be going to hell This is such a bothersome thought to me, and I have difficulty believing it. I've invited my friends to church and offered them the...http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/oh-god.html Pancake Mountain!- May 4, 2004 -- How is it possible that I was unaware of Pancake Mountain, a prototype of a surreal children's show featuring Ian MacKaye, Bob Mould, Thievery, Uncalled4 (a swell go go band, for you people who live in an actual state) and other "famous for DC" types Do check out MacKaye's new endeavor, the Evens, performing "Vowel Movement" and Anti-Flag doing a quite rousing version of the Pancake Mountain theme song. Who wouldn't expose their children to luddish, anti-corporate propaganda if the music was.http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/pancake-mountain.html More Human Bondage for the Public Benefit- May 4, 2004 -- For a sec I though Matt was being facetious, until I got to the middle: And of course one should be honest. A big part of the notion here is a nefarious leftwing scheme that hopes to use mandatory service as a mechanism for producing social interaction across class, regional, and ethnic lines so as to produce a more solidaristic generation. The thought, both mobility-wise and solidarity-wise, is that the "greatest generation" of conscripts built a nice, relatively egalitarian, middle-class..http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2004/05/more-human-bondage-for-public-benefit.html |