It seems that I wasn't the only one challenging Bill Whittle's recent depictions of the false alternative of conservative cynicism vs. leftist idealism as they derive from "constrained" vs. "unconstrained" visions of human nature (following the views expressed in Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions). As a result, Whittle, to his credit, invited Onkar Ghate of the Ayn Rand Institute (hat-tip Ari Armstrong) to describe the proper alternative as suggested historically by Aristotle and John Locke and, of course, more recently by Ayn Rand. The first of what is apparently a two part interview, can be found here.
As a general comment I would like to say how happy I am to see Bill Whittle do this. For the most part I have found Whittle's video essays on PJTV quite incisive and enlightening, particularly his excellent video on the story of dropping of the first atomic bomb. It is heartening to see that he is rational enough to be willing to present an important point of view that presents an alternative to the false dichotomy he presented.
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1 comment:
I agree with your sentiment. I was beginning to quite like Whittle and so it was disheartening to hear about his cynical view of human nature. This sounds interesting I'll check it out.
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