He Said It: David Rose

I just discovered this lecture [h/t: Max Hocutt] given by economist David Rose last April to the Show-Me Institute in Missouri. The lecture is based on his excellent new book, The Moral Foundation of Economic Behavior (Oxford, 2012). (My review of the book in The Independent Review has just been published online here; I went so far as to describe it as "potentially pathbreaking.") Rose's lecture is about one hour long; if you can spare the time, it's well worth a look:

Otteson and the President

President Václav Klaus and I, 7 September 2012
[courtesy Jerri Shields]

No, not that president. I was in Prague two weeks ago, and I had the opportunity to meet the president of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus. Having lived through a communist regime, and played an integral role in its transition to a republic, President Klaus is an impressive person who has lived an extraordinary life. It was an honor and a privilege for me to meet him.

In a future post, I may discuss the provocative paper he gave. In the meantime, here is a picture with both of us.

He Said It: Russell

"When an intelligent man expresses a view which seems to us obviously absurd, we should not attempt to prove that it is somehow true, but we should try to understand how it ever came to seem true. This exercise of historical and psychological imagination at once enlarges the scope of our thinking, and helps us to realize how foolish many of our own cherished prejudices will seem to an age which has a different temper of mind." 

--Bertrand Russell, "Heraclitus," chap. 4 of his 1945 History of Western Philosophy