great article, and I got a real kick out of Benatar's dedication. I might have to pick up that book. I know you talked about it on your blog before. Actually I just might make summer reading of Overall's too, just for the counterpoint. I'm not sure I buy into Caplan's argument about genetic determinism. At the very least it sounds a little irresponsible.
All three books are worth reading. Caplan's just really fun, I have to say. I completely enjoyed that book, even though it's a bit insane. Benatar ... well, that's insane too, probably even more so. But extremely well written and carefully argued. The most sane of the three is Overall, who constantly takes liberal common sense as non-negotiable. There's something a bit problematic about that, I think. It's one thing to find certain starting points as self-evident (pain is bad, autonomy is good, that kind of thing), but another to think we western liberals have got to be right about practically everything we think.
great article, and I got a real kick out of Benatar's dedication. I might have to pick up that book. I know you talked about it on your blog before. Actually I just might make summer reading of Overall's too, just for the counterpoint. I'm not sure I buy into Caplan's argument about genetic determinism. At the very least it sounds a little irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteAll three books are worth reading. Caplan's just really fun, I have to say. I completely enjoyed that book, even though it's a bit insane. Benatar ... well, that's insane too, probably even more so. But extremely well written and carefully argued. The most sane of the three is Overall, who constantly takes liberal common sense as non-negotiable. There's something a bit problematic about that, I think. It's one thing to find certain starting points as self-evident (pain is bad, autonomy is good, that kind of thing), but another to think we western liberals have got to be right about practically everything we think.
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