Category:Philosophers

December 12, 2023 | Post

Responsibility: For some the word conjures up images of old people lecturing young people about sitting up straight, doing their homework, and writing thank-you notes to elderly aunts.

Unsurprisingly, we’re expected to think it’s boring, tedious, a diversion from our enjoyment of our freedom. The goal of freedom, the images suggest, is to escape responsibilities.

In fact, embracing responsibility is neither boring, nor tedious, nor a diversion from freedom.

July 13, 2023 | Post

To set the record straight on the matter of liberty and immigration, let’s look to one of the most influential classical liberal thinkers, Ludwig von Mises, for guidance…

May 25, 2023 | Post

Karl Hess is a figure whose political journey was more complex and revelatory than most. His journey is one that is worth retracing today as a means of understanding the roots of contemporary libertarianism, its early flirtations with radical countercultural politics, and the outdated left-right political paradigm

May 16, 2023 | Post

John Stuart Mill was born 217 years ago, on May 20, 1806, and is remembered as one of the most foundational classical liberal philosophers and political economists to this day. Here are some things that you might not have guessed about John Stuart Mill.

February 27, 2023 | Post

Ayn Rand, a celebrated author and philosopher, was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Known for her bestselling novels, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s ideas have had a profound impact on the fields of politics, economics, and philosophy.

February 14, 2023 | Post

Central to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism is the idea that each of us should hold our own personal happiness as our highest moral purpose. Here are a selection of Ayn Rand quotes for living a fulfilling life…

February 2, 2023 | Post

Ayn Rand, one of the most influential pro-liberty minds of the 20th century, was born 118 years ago today. Considered to be a novelist and philosopher in equal measure, she promoted Objectivism, her philosophical system, through many works of both fiction and nonfiction.

February 28, 2022 | Post

When we think of terms such as capitalism, individualism, or selfishness, one name comes to mind: Ayn Rand. But what makes Rand so significant?

December 27, 2021 | Post

In recent history, too many Latin American politicians have fallen victim to a Marxist view of the world — and they have dragged their countries into poverty. Of course, Latin America has also been home to some of the world’s most powerful pro-liberty voices — including Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a Mexican nun […]

December 20, 2021 | Post

Here’s a brainbuster for you: The product on the left will help keep you alive for 6-8 weeks. It costs $4.49. The other is nothing more than pretty to look at. It costs $161. Why? This paradox — the water-diamond paradox — troubled some of the world’s greatest minds. Plato wondered about it; Copernicus and […]

November 11, 2021 | Post

Last week, we wrote about Frederic Bastiat, the king of communicating economic and philosophical ideas in simple, direct (and often funny) ways.

Of course, in the 19th century, Bastiat’s medium was the printed word. But if you had to find an heir to his throne in the social media era, Thomas Sowell would be a leading contender.

November 4, 2021 | Post

This is the second of Learn Liberty’s “Legends” series. Read our first, on Ayn Rand, HERE. He never won a Nobel Prize. He never wrote a New York Times bestseller. In the history books, he doesn’t sit alongside Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek as all-time great economists. He doesn’t even have an […]

October 28, 2021 | Post

This is the first of Learn Liberty’s “Legends” series. See our second, on Frederic Bastiat, HERE. Few names elicit a stronger emotional response than Ayn (eye-n) Rand. Look no further than the replies to this tweet: Much of the hatred comes from people (usually on the political left) who, as you can see in that […]

May 5, 2017 | Post

Marx espoused confrontation and slander over careful and critical intellectual debate.