Judge: Philosophy and Freedom in the First Person


Book Description

Here is your invitation to an extraordinary journey through the intersections of philosophy and law. In this captivating book, Paul McKeever presents a powerful new method of considering the world's most famously long-standing, unresolved philosophical problems. He also demonstrates, in an entertaining and convincing way, the practical importance of achieving solutions to such problems. In each chapter, McKeever places you in the role of a presiding judge, meticulously analyzing a vexing legal dispute rooted in a long-standing philosophical paradox or dilemma. You will discover that, in each case, the elusiveness of the solution to the philosophical puzzle stems from the perspective from which philosophers have considered it. You will witness the transformative power of McKeever's new philosophical method as you skillfully apply its solutions to each court case, and are illuminated by the profound impact of philosophical thinking on real-world problems. "JUDGE" is an eye-opening exploration, offering thinkers from all fields of endeavour an uncharted perspective on the timeless mysteries that shape our understanding of the world. Whether you are a philosophy student, a law professor, a physician, a police officer, a baker, an artist, a legislator, a political activist, or someone who is preparing for a world in which the proper adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence will require a command of effective philosophical problem-solving skills: prepare to challenge your intellect and reshape your perceptions in this riveting fusion of philosophy and law. 13 PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS RESOLVED IN THIS DISSERTATION - Are “facts” trumped by your perceptions/beliefs/feelings/assertions? - The Problem of Identity vs. Change: Is the old grey mare what she used to be? - Do you perceive the external world? As it really is? Does it exist? Can you know it to exist? - The Problem of Universals: What do all commonalities have in common? - What is meaning?: If your neighbor claims that everything he says is a lie, is he telling the truth? - What is truth? If it’s a fact that you will murder someone tomorrow, do you have the freedom and power not to do so? - The Problem of Causality: what causes a tennis ball to bounce? - The Problem of Induction: If you’ve only seen white swans, can you say with certainty that all swans are white? - Is “free will” a myth? Is the future written? Do you already have a fate? - The IS-OUGHT Problem: Are goodness and virtue subjective? One-size-fits-all? Dependent on the situation? A myth? - What is justice? - Are natural rights a myth? - What is freedom?




Freedom's Progress?


Book Description

In Freedom's Progress?, Gerard Casey argues that the progress of freedom has largely consisted in an intermittent and imperfect transition from tribalism to individualism, from the primacy of the collective to the fragile centrality of the individual person and of freedom. Such a transition is, he argues, neither automatic nor complete, nor are relapses to tribalism impossible. The reason for the fragility of freedom is simple: the importance of individual freedom is simply not obvious to everyone. Most people want security in this world, not liberty. 'Libertarians,' writes Max Eastman, 'used to tell us that "the love of freedom is the strongest of political motives," but recent events have taught us the extravagance of this opinion. The "herd-instinct" and the yearning for paternal authority are often as strong. Indeed the tendency of men to gang up under a leader and submit to his will is of all political traits the best attested by history.' The charm of the collective exercises a perennial magnetic attraction for the human spirit. In the 20th century, Fascism, Bolshevism and National Socialism were, Casey argues, each of them a return to tribalism in one form or another and many aspects of our current Western welfare states continue to embody tribalist impulses. Thinkers you would expect to feature in a history of political thought feature in this book - Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Mill and Marx - but you will also find thinkers treated in Freedom's Progress? who don't usually show up in standard accounts - Johannes Althusius, Immanuel Kant, William Godwin, Max Stirner, Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, Pyotr Kropotkin, Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker and Auberon Herbert. Freedom's Progress? also contains discussions of the broader social and cultural contexts in which politics takes its place, with chapters on slavery, Christianity, the universities, cities, Feudalism, law, kingship, the Reformation, the English Revolution and what Casey calls Twentieth Century Tribalisms - Bolshevism, Fascism and National Socialism and an extensive chapter on human prehistory.