Ep. 83 A College Student Interviews Bob About How Libertarians View the World
Greta, a college student in New York, is working on an honor’s thesis covering libertarian thought in America. In this short interview, she asks Bob what libertarianism is, his perspective on voting, and how he views the American political system. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob’s talk for Mises Institute, “Is It…
Ep. 82 Why Intelligent Design Is a Scientific Theory
In the bitter debates over evolution, it is a common practice for the defenders of the orthodox Darwinian approach to argue that not only is Intelligent Design (ID) theory wrong, but it doesn’t even count as a scientific theory. After all, so the orthodox defenders argue, you can’t really test to see if an intelligent…
Ep. 81 Jeffrey Rogers Hummel on the Economics of Slavery and Why the Confederate States Lost the Civil War
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel joins Bob for an in-depth discussion of the economics of slavery, touching on subtleties such as the labor/leisure tradeoff, and the recent claims by some historians that slavery was efficient. Then Bob asks Hummel to explain the provocative claim in his book, that the Confederacy would have done much better militarily if…
Ep. 80 Would the Laws of Economics Be True in the Garden of Eden?
Patrick, one of the co-hosts of the “Cave to the Cross Apologetics” podcast, has Bob on the show to discuss Austrian economics, but with reference to a philosophical framework for defending Christianity. It is a fascinating discussion that covers unusual issues, such as: Would the laws of economics be true in the Garden of Eden?…
Ep. 79 Stephan Kinsella and Bob Murphy Debate Hans Hoppe’s “Argumentation Ethics”
By popular demand, Bob brings Stephan back on the podcast, this time to debate Hans Hoppe’s famous “argumentation ethics” case for libertarianism. Stephan defends Hoppe’s claim that any attempt to justify a NON-libertarian system would result in a performative contradiction, while Bob clarifies the argument and raises concerns about it. Mentioned in the Episode and…