Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'human nature'

June 05, 2012

Sirico: The Great Lie of Socialism

Socialism, despite its deficiencies, still has its fans. “Visit the philosophy and English departments on most college campuses, and you will still find intellectuals waxing eloquent on the glories of socialist theory. Continue Reading...
March 21, 2012

Commentary: Human Nature: The Question behind the Culture Wars

Why do people so readily assume the worst about the religious motives of their fellow citizens? Why do we let partisanship take precedence over implementing policy solutions? In his new book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and attempts to show the way forward to mutual understanding. Continue Reading...
September 21, 2011

Solyndra and the False Hope of Green Jobs

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “Solyndra and the False Hope of Green Jobs” I look at the original problem with federally funded Green Jobs. The Solyndra debacle has been called a “microcosm of Obamanomics,” an example of what always happens when the Federal Government starts handing out $500 million checks. Continue Reading...
December 16, 2010

Understanding Human Behavior

In “Human Nature and Capitalism” on AEI’s The American, Arthur C. Brooks and Peter Wehner look at three different “pictures” of what it means to be human and point to the one, foundational understanding that has undergirded the flourishing American culture of democratic capitalism: “If men were angels,” wrote James Madison, the father of the Constitution, in Federalist Paper No. Continue Reading...
November 30, 2007

Chimeras, Personhood, and Ultimate Capacities

In stating his opposition to a proposed ban on the creation of human-animal hybrids, or chimeras (the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2007), Wired blogger Brandon Keim writes, “People — and, for that matter, animals — can’t be reduced to a few discrete biological parts. Continue Reading...
March 27, 2007

There’s just no such thing

I saw a spate of headlines over the weekend that proclaimed something like, “Now scientists create a sheep that’s 15% human.” 15% human? Really? Isn’t that like being “a little pregnant”? Continue Reading...