BLOG | Wright's Writing

Aug 30, 202037 min read

Critical remarks on academia and philosophy

I was recently skimming old notes of mine and came across the following thoughts from a two-volume book on "humanism" I wanted to write...

Aug 29, 20203 min read

"Government in the Future"

[From 2008.] Reading Chomsky’s pamphlet Government in the Future, which sets out to answer the question “What is the role of the state in...

Aug 29, 202019 min read

Thoughts on the analytic/synthetic distinction

Here's a paper I wrote long ago in which I tried to clarify some issues around the philosophical distinction between analytic and...

Aug 28, 202017 min read

A critique and defense of Plato’s “just state”

In case anyone out there has an interest in Plato, here's a paper from my student days in which I did the shamelessly anachronistic and...

Aug 27, 202021 min read

The remarkable perversity of idealism

Many years ago, when I was a simple boy who thought he ought to know a lot about Hegel, I took masses of notes on his philosophy. Below...

Aug 26, 202016 min read

Methodological individualism vs. holism

If you're like me and are dumb enough to take an interest in abstruse debates among social scientists, you may have heard of the "debate"...

Aug 26, 20206 min read

"A refutation of Kantian and Benthamite ethics"

Here's a paper from my undergraduate days, which you might find mildly interesting in its outline (and critique) of both Kantian and...

Aug 25, 20209 min read

Thou shalt not worship intellectuals

When I read old books or articles that are totally forgotten despite being brilliant, it saddens me. Siblings of Donald Trump publish...

Aug 24, 202025 min read

Why I am not a Leninist (nor an anarchist)

Years later, I still reproach myself for self-publishing my book on cooperatives, because that ensured it would have a limited...

Aug 23, 202025 min read

The radical dimensions of mass consciousness, part 2

Here's the sequel to this post, from the last chapter of my Ph.D. thesis. It's just an excerpt. The main point of it is to argue against...

Aug 23, 202045 min read

The radical dimensions of mass consciousness, part 1

I'm kind of a "vulgar Marxist." In this respect, I suppose I'm a lot like people in the American ruling class, except that their values...

Aug 22, 202020 min read

The definition of knowledge

This student paper, from 2006, argues that knowledge in the strictest sense is impossible. No one ever has “absolute” knowledge,...

Aug 21, 20209 min read

I wish stupidity were less common

This is going to be a whiny, self-pitying post. Just to warn you. The question is sometimes asked, "Why are stupid people frequently so...

Aug 21, 202053 min read

Homeless men in the Great Depression

Here's another over-long blog post. It's a chapter from my dissertation, on homeless men during the Great Depression. I'm not sure it's...

Aug 17, 20207 min read

Fragments on Marxism and anarchism

Grad student notes from 2010.— One of the advantages of Marx’s equation of progress with the expansion of productive capacity is that it...

Aug 16, 20204 min read

A short critique of Albert Camus

Journal entry from 2007.— Reading The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays (by Camus). Impressive book. Tries to answer the question I was...

Aug 12, 20204 min read

Fragments on the phenomenology of sexual attraction

[From 2010.] The psychology of sex is fascinating. For example, why are women sometimes attracted to “innocent” young men, “pure,”...

Aug 11, 202059 min read

The relativity of values

Back in my twenties I had an intellectual and creative energy I don't have anymore. I was consumed by philosophy, jumping from topic to...

Aug 9, 202027 min read

I hate economics

I'm an imbecile at economics. Over the years, I've tried to educate myself, but it never really works. My brain does philosophy and...

Aug 7, 202010 min read

Detritus from a dead poetic imagination

Life in the 21st century as we all wait consciously or unconsciously for the apocalypse is boring and driven by distractions, an endless...