Of Machines and Men
The New York Times has an interesting article on the potential dangers of technology, and the ever-evolving relationship between humans and the tools they create.
Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.
–Luke
Let’s talk about rights, baby
Jonah Goldberg on where rights come from:
Which is the whole point. Health care cannot be a right, because rights cannot come from government. At best, they can be protected by government. The founders understood this, which is why our Bill of Rights is really a list of restrictions on the government in Washington. “Congress shall make no law . . . ” is how the First Amendment begins.
–Sam
What’s wrong with racial profiling?
Neutrality in the age of Obama
The arrest of noted scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in his own home has produced an enormous public outcry for at least two reasons: first, Gates is famous, well-regarded public intellectual, who lives in the affluent community of Cambridge, Massachusetts; second, the President said the arresting officer had acted “stupidly.”
Enter chaos. Read more
Is the regulation of payday lenders justified?
Slate has a piece up describing the results of new research from the University of Chicago on payday loans:
So presenting borrowers with a clearer explanation of how costly it will be to carry the loan might save some folks from falling into the payday debt trap. But what about the other 90 percent of borrowers, who even when presented with evidence of the long-term costs still took the loan? For many of these borrowers, no amount of information will deter them. These may be candidates for what Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein call a “nudge” out of payday borrowing. Economists Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman have proposed just such a nudge: mandating a cooling-off period before a payday loan clears to discourage impulsive borrowers (though this runs somewhat counter to the purpose of a payday loan, which is for people who need money now).
Is Karlan and Zinman’s proposal justified?
This proposal is philosophically distinct from the “nudge” the author references. The classic “nudge” is auto-enrolling employees in a retirement savings plan. Doing so does not impose any particular burden — a decision needs to be made at this particular inflection point (to enroll or to not enroll). Participants can, of course, choose to dis-enroll in the program at will. The program reaches a socially optimal outcome without compelling or preventing action.
The situation is different in the case of the proposed payday loan cooling-off period. Karlan and Zinman would have the government prevent borrowers from doing what they have already chosen to do, that is, get money now regardless of the costs. Cooling-off periods might be justified for activities such as buying a handgun, because the danger is that the weapon will be used to harm others. However, it is not clear that payday loans harm anyone other than the borrower, and certainly not to the same violent extent.
Regulation of this market places a clear imposition on a freely-determined course of action; it’s not clear what philosophical principle could justify this restriction. Thoughts?
Reading the Pope in America
In the National Review, Michael Novek performs a little textual analysis of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encylical:
In its practical recommendations about political economy, however, this encyclical appears to be riding two horses – the russet horse of those who think the state is the main road to the common good, and the pale horse of those who think the strictly limited state should spur a thousand free initiatives and civic actions as a surer carrier toward the common good.
Check out the rest.
–Sam
Leszek Kolakowski, Critic of Marxism, Dies at 81
From the NYT obituary:
Leszek Kolakowski, a Polish philosopher who rejected Marxism and helped inspire the Solidarity movement in his native land while living in exile, died Friday in Oxford, England. He was 81.
On the site of public philosophy
Morality and public policy
As we write in the “About” section, public philosophy is about illuminating “the moral and philosophical issues lurking behind debates over public policy and domestic and foreign affairs.” This begs the question: where exactly do the moral and philosophical issues — that is, issues of right and wrong — “lurk”? Or, to riff off a favorite philosopher – what is the “site” of public philosophy?
As regular readers of this site will notice, the public philosopher is interested in far more than simply public policy. We write about the foundations of government, the conduct of government officials and even the behavior of individuals in society. Moral issues lurk behind all the above. In this post, though, I will focus specifically on the aspects of public policy that are of concern to the public philosopher. Read more
Casey at the battaca
Lame Gattaca reference, I know. It appears that one of the first real tests of genetic discrimination may have emerged in . . . baseball of all places. Due to recurring concerns over identity and age, apparently Major League Baseball has begun using genetic testing. Writes the New York Times:
Many experts in genetics consider such testing a violation of personal privacy. Federal legislation, signed into law last year and scheduled to take effect Nov. 21, prohibits companies based in the United States from asking an employee, a potential employee or a family member of an employee for a sample of their DNA.
Dozens of Latin American prospects in recent years have been caught purporting to be younger than they actually were as a way to make themselves more enticing to major league teams. Last week the Yankees voided the signing of an amateur from the Dominican Republic after a DNA test conducted by Major League Baseball’s department of investigations showed that the player had misrepresented his identity.
This is obviously a “brave new world” kind of issue, but it’s surprising baseball may be the first (if not the final) frontier.
–Sam
Politicians and Privacy
How much do we need to know about our leaders?
A young reporter once saw John F. Kennedy going into a hotel room with a beautiful young woman. When he went to tell his editor about the story, the editor replied that this was a personal matter and was not the sort of story that the media should report on.
Today the private lives of politicians are no longer considered so private. From the Mark Sanford scandal to the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter, the lives of politicians – and those of their friends and family – have become headline news. Read more
Cato on Cato
For fun, I thought I’d compare (without judgment) how Jake describes “political libertarianism” and how Cato describes its own philosophy. Check it out after the jump.
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