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Nota bene: this is the fourth of a series of blog posts on “the paradox of politics”; footnotes are below the fold. “… where there is no law there is no freedom.” –John Locke, Second Treatise (quoted in Strauss & … Continue reading →

Nota bene: this is the third of a series of blog posts on “the paradox of politics”; footnotes are below the fold. Is the paradox of politics, the central tension between law and liberty, soluble? Alas, the most popular solutions … Continue reading →

The paradox is this: people rightfully value liberty, but what is the optimal amount? If we have too much freedom to pursue our private interests, some individuals may end up harming others, making social life unstable and intolerable. So, we … Continue reading →

“The common understanding of politics, since the time of Hobbes and Locke, has taken the balancing of liberty and authority as the central issue.” (Strauss & Cropsey 1987, p. 717) Thomas S. Kuhn wrote about the “essential tension” between tradition … Continue reading →

Last week (see links below), I surveyed a new paper in Econ Journal Watch by Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young on Adam Smith’s impartial spectator. Today, I want to conclude this series of blog posts with a question … Continue reading →

In addition to the three Adam Smith quotes from TMS cited by Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young (KSY) in their new paper in Econ Journal Watch on the impartial spectator (see Klein et al. 2025, pp. 304-305; see … Continue reading →

Continued from my previous post: Is Adam Smith’s impartial spectator a deity or just a heuristic device? To recap, my colleagues Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young claim that this imaginary entity is a “universal, super-knowledgeable, and benevolent beholder” … Continue reading →

As I have mentioned in my last few posts, my colleagues Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young have published a new paper in Econ Journal Watch about one of the most original and fascinating ideas in the work of … Continue reading →