tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post1505445956822128411..comments2024-03-28T09:22:36.967+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: Wishful thinkingEric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-39701518746327648042010-01-03T14:41:41.594+13:002010-01-03T14:41:41.594+13:00Hadn't checked against Weber and de Tocquevill...Hadn't checked against Weber and de Tocqueville; doesn't surprise me that Weber follows the same academic cycle as Marx.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-49602034617047424712010-01-03T14:41:14.535+13:002010-01-03T14:41:14.535+13:00Also, I think the biographies are half the reason ...Also, I think the biographies are half the reason for the increased interest. There is one thing that Boaz completely misses though, when he calls for a wider engagement with Rand. <br /><br />If you're having difficulty discerning arguments within the immediate body of work of an author because they are, as often argued, highly derivative, simplistic and (like her biographers argued of Rand herself) closed to real debate, and have to turn to the contemporaneous works of Branden for an interpretation you can use, then there's something seriously wrong. I think it's perhaps comparable to taking Don Delillo and calling his ideas a grounded philosophical movement because someone extrapolated a more conventional philosophical order from the texts.<br /><br />Maybe the idea should be to look closer at Branden, then, if you really want to explore and engage with a version of Objectivism that has at least some depth of argument.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06728572650611483818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-73586753777762590102010-01-03T14:23:07.561+13:002010-01-03T14:23:07.561+13:00I like this method, despite its faults, and actual...I like this method, despite its faults, and actually love the idea that <a href="http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=%22Das%20Kapital%22%20%2B%20%22Das%20Capital%22%20%2B%20%22communist%20manifesto%22%20%2B%20marxism%20%2B%20communism%20%2B%20%22karl%20marx%22%20%2B%20%22carl%20marx%22%2C%22Atlas%20Shrugged%22%20%2B%20objectivism%20%2B%20%22ayn%20rand%22%20%2B%20%22Ann%20Rand%22%20%2B%20%22the%20fountainhead%22%20%2B%20%22virtue%20of%20selfishness%22%20%2B%22john%20galt%22%20%2B%20%22going%20galt%22%2C%22Max%20Weber%22%20%2B%20%22The%20Protestant%20Ethic%20and%20the%20Spirit%20of%20Capitalism%22%20%2B%20%22Politics%20as%20a%20Vocation%22%20%2B%20%22Economy%20and%20Society%22%20%2B%20%22protestant%20work%20ethic%22%20%2B%20%22iron%20cage%20of%20rationality%22%20%2B%20disenchantment%20%2B%20rationalisation%20%2B%20rationalization%2C%22Alexis%20de%20Tocqueville%22%20%2B%20%22de%20Tocqueville%22%20%2B%20%22Alex%20de%20Tocqueville%22%20%2B%20%22Tocqueville%22%20%2B%20%22Democracy%20in%20America%22%20%2B%20%22The%20Old%20Regime%20and%20the%20Revolution%22%20%2B%20%22Journey%20to%20America%22&cmpt=q" rel="nofollow">it reveals Rand to be more popular than both Max Weber and de Tocqueville</a>. I wonder if the demand for Rand's brand of libertarianism outstrips Mill or Bentham.<br /><br />Marx and Weber both seem to peak at certain points of the year - the previously noted academic cycle in the northern hemisphere.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06728572650611483818noreply@blogger.com