James_Alan_Armstrong Profile
Join Date:
2012-04-13
Blogs Owned
1. James Armstrong
A blog about politics, philosophy and current affairs written by James Armstrong, a Political Philosophy PhD student from the University of York.
Latest Blog Posts
- The first moment of love is that I do not wish to …The first moment of love is that I do not wish to be a self-subsistent and independent person and that, if I were, then I would feel defective and incomplete. The second moment is that I find myself in another person, that I count for something in th...
- Libertarians see the right to own and trade as ful…Libertarians see the right to own and trade as fully on a par with liberal freedoms of speech, worship or association. But this is a hostage to fortune. The liberal freedoms are what might be called non-rival: people can enjoy them without stopping...
- Picture of the Day: Two men kissing in front of religious bigots at Manchester PrideBrilliant picture from Canal Street in Manchester. My sentiments exactly!
- Jeremy Bentham on passing windon Jun 14, 2012 in Philosophy Politics apprehension consequence explosion jeremy bentham lips sense of smell stomachHere’s something a little light-hearted, from the same man who requested, in his will, that his skeleton and head be preserved and put on display at UCL. Jeremy Bentham’s advice on the vexing problem of trapped wind: “Solid, liquid,...
- Yusuf Chambers: The kind face of extremismToday at the University of York a great deal of controversy was stirred up by a blog entry, which argued that extremist speakers have no place on a University campus. The speaker in question was a man called Yusuf Chambers, who is on record as havi...
- Are soldiers heroic?: A very short essay on heroism in warChris Hayes, a CNBC news anchorman, has recently been criticised for saying that he is “uncomfortable” with using the word “hero” to describe soldiers who fight in war, because – although individual acts in war can be he...
- A living wage?It is now 11 years since the living wage campaign kicked off in the UK, and it seems to be an issue which unites people from across the political spectrum. After all, who on Earth could be against the idea of people being payed a decent wage for what...
- Minimum Alcohol Pricing: Three reasons to oppose iton May 14, 2012 in Economics Politics alcohol abuse alcohol misuse alcohol price alcohol related diseases alcoholism binge drinking bullingdon club david cameron deleterious effects drunken antics effects of alcohol effects of alcohol consumption heavy industry market failure middle class negative externalities scottish government social crime supposition true priceThe Scottish government have just imposed a minimum alcohol price on drinks north of the border, and David Cameron has similar plans for England. The aim of these policies is to tackle binge drinking, which is said to be a peculiarly British disease.
- Gay Marriage: This is why the personal is politicalon May 12, 2012 in Politics gay marriage heart it could happen to you love reason and argument shane tom bridgegroom tragic storyI’ve written extensively on gay marriage, but the power of reason and argument can not compare to the power of one tragic story of love and loss. My heart goes out to Shane, his friends and his family, for his loss. Please share this with other...
- Economics in Action #3: Debt/GDPAbove is a very simple formula to calculate the Debt to GDP ratio for the economy as a whole. As you can see there are two parts, and so the ratio is affected by two things: The overall level of debt in the economy, and the size of the economic pie,...
- Some thoughts on the Queen’s Speechon May 9, 2012 in Politics anoraks balancing act central priority coalition government coherent narrative column inches corridors david cameron economic news fulcrum grist for the mill hodgepodge labour government national interest nick clegg radical reform room deals rose garden shoulder to shoulder youth unemploymentThis coalition government came together because there was a sense that the economy was in crisis. Back in 2010, David Cameron and Nick Clegg stood shoulder to shoulder and promised a government of “era-changing, convention-challenging, radical refo...
- Economics in Action #1: The Production Possibility Frontieron May 1, 2012 in Economics Politics british economy commodity curve economic situation factors of production fiscal policy hard choices important point liquidity trap monetary base monetary policy new money opportunity cost private banks production possibility frontier rapid expansion recession tough choicesAs politicians remind us constantly, politics is about making tough choices, often in no-win situations. There is no better way of illustrating this simple principle than by looking at something called the production possibility frontier, which maps...
- Economics in Action #2: The Debt and the Deficiton May 1, 2012 in UncategorizedThe most infuriating thing about economic debates, in any polity, is that many people don’t even know what they are talking about. It’s not just that they don’t understand a complex argument about the macroeconomic effects of loweri...
- A philosophical reflection on unhappinessOn the train down to Oxford yesterday afternoon, I had the time to read and reflect on a book by Bertrand Russell entitled The Conquest of Happiness (the full text of which can be found online, here). He starts the book by reassuring the reader that...
- The Religious Right: How can they presume to know the mind of God?What always staggers me, as an atheist, is the certainty of some religious folk. Not only are they certain that God exists, but they are also pretty clear that the it is the God of the Christian Bible, and furthermore, many of them claim to know and...
- Massive disparities in graduate earnings by subjecton Apr 14, 2012 in Politics arts and humanities disparities earnings economy employability UK unemployment wages youth unemploymentIt seems that I chose pretty poorly when I opted to do a degree in the Arts and Humanities, if I were to judge from the table above. When I went to university I didn’t have to worry too much about employability, because the economy had been boo...
- A philosophical reflection on the abortion debateon Apr 13, 2012 in Philosophy Politics abortion debate assertion atheist disagreements fetus life begins at conception macintyre moral debate moral disagreement moral status political liberalism political resolution premise premises public reason religious conviction religious persuasion religious textMost people who are engaged in the pro-life side of the abortion debate do so because they hold deep religious conviction about the moral status of the fetus. They argue that life begins at conception because they hold a belief that this is the momen...
- Do small differences matter morally?Imagine walking into an Oxford college and seeing an old friend of yours across the grass of the quad. On the neatly mowed lawn there is ’Keep Off The Grass’ sign, but you are certain that your walking across the grass on this fine day w...
- Most people still blame Labour for the cutsI’ve just stumbled across this graph from Mike Smitheson’s blog. It shows that a plurality of people still blame Labour, rather than the Tories for the radical cuts in public sector spending. This demonstrates that, despite recent suc...
- Is there a right to Immigrate?Immigration is an issue that has been pushed to the sidelines in most accounts of what constitutes a just society. John Rawls, for instance, explicitly excludes potential migrants from consideration by stating that his theory applies to “a closed s...
