Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol
Nozick refutes his own theory!
Originally posted on prior probability:
Unwittingly, Nozick contradicts himself and refutes his own theory of the state in the fourth subsection of Chapter 6 (pp. 133-137)! Recall Nozick’s previous claims from Chapter 5 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia. In case…
A Question for Nozick: Why Locke?
Originally posted on prior probability:
Nozick poses two additional questions in the third subsection of Chapter 6 (pp. 130-133). First, he asks whether individuals in a state of nature might agree with each other or unilaterally decide to refrain from…
Nozick on preemptive strikes
Originally posted on prior probability:
The second subsection of Chapter 6 (pp. 126-130) anticipates the worldwide controversy over President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair’s ill-fated decision to invade Iraq in 2003, which in hindsight, turned out to…
What is the equilibrium, if any, in the state of nature?
Originally posted on prior probability:
We almost considered skipping Chapter 6 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, since Nozick himself invites his readers to do so on p. 120: “The reader who wishes to pursue the main flow of our argument…
Why not use auctions to allocate orbits in outer space?
Happy Boxing Day! You may have heard about the James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched 10 years behind schedule and cost almost $10 Billion USD to complete. (See this NY Times report, for example.) What you may not be … Continue reading
Feliz Navidad
I will resume my epic, in-depth review of Nozick on Monday; in the meantime, all I want for Christmas is “Mariachi Show 2000” — check out their version of Jose Feliciano’s classic song “Feliz Navidad” — the best version I … Continue reading
La Virgen y el Niño con Santa Ana
To commemorate the holiday traditions of “Nochebuena” and Christmas I am posting this portrait of “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” by the Greek artist El Greco (b. 1541, d. 1614), who completed this work in the year 1600 … Continue reading
Holiday readings
Among other things, the holidays are a time when I finally get to catch up on my scholarly readings. Below, for example, is a listing of some of the sundry papers and books I am studying this season: “Gametek: the … Continue reading
Critique of Pardo’s legal proof paper
I still have one more piece of unfinished business before I resume my in-depth review of Robert Nozick’s magnum opus Anarchy, State, and Utopia, and that is “Grounding Legal Proof” — a paper on the “epistemology of evidence law” authored … Continue reading
Could Gambling Save Democracy?
Originally posted on prior probability:
With apologies to my colleague and friend Robin Hanson, that is the tentative title of my next project, which builds on my previous work “Betting on Conspiracies,” which is forthcoming in The Journal of Law…

