Philosophy and Methodology

Bob discusses Kurt Gödel's now-famous "incompleteness theorems," which showed the limitations of axiomatic systems of mathematics.

No one could have admired and respected Ludwig von Mises more than did Murray Rothbard, who dedicated his magnum opus in economic theory, Man, Economy, and State, to his great mentor. Yet Rothbard did not shy away from criticizing Mises when he believed such criticism to be called for.

Rothbard characterized socialism as the “violent abolition of the market.”

The people must constantly keep their Government small and local, and even then must watch it with great vigilance lest it run amok. That is the great Jeffersonian lesson, and it is one that all Americans must begin to learn again.

Hayek’s theory of knowledge cautions against grand designs based on the alleged expertise of a select class of people. 

Steven Pinker’s attempt to rescue the Whig theory of history and demonstrate that we live in the best of all worlds turns out to be an utter failure.

The state is not "us." Even if 70 percent of the people decided to murder the remaining 30 percent, this would still be murder and would not be voluntary suicide on the part of the slaughtered minority.

Representation is a fig leaf that is insufficient to cover the brutal fact that even in our sophisticated modern states, some rule and others are ruled.

Tyranny does not rest on force but on submission.

Some Marxists have been quite explicit about their desire to apply the Marxist idea of exploitation to nearly every facet of society.