by Sanjay Perera Then I knew that the sign I had asked for was not a little thing, not a passing nod of recognition and a phrase came back to me from my childhood of the veil of the temple … Continue reading Making moral philosophy relevant again: the rent across the ‘veil of ignorance’
by Sanjay Perera
We return to the idea of general equilibrium and the transcendent nature of it espoused by economists and the problems ensuing from this. Another normative aspect to this for economists, in terms of what good a state of equilibrium can produce is highlighted by the so-called Pareto criterion. Continue reading A critique of Capital (3): Toward a moral economy
by Sanjay Perera
From the perspective of the Kantian critique the problem with the synthetic idea of general equilibrium is that it fast becomes a transcendent one. Continue reading A critique of Capital (2): The metaphysics of economics
by Sanjay Perera
In the introductory lines of a textbook on economics are these words: “Are Marxists correct in arguing that only vast expenditure on arms saves the capitalist countries from a return of mass unemployment? Or have we now learned…how to avoid forever such devastating situations? Why, then, in the late 1970s, did unemployment in Britain, the United States and several other countries reach the highest levels ever attained since the Great Depression of the 1930s?” Continue reading A critique of Capital (1): The problem with economics
by Sanjay Perera [This essay is dedicated to those men and women in Singapore who were unjustly detained without trial under the Internal Security Act which has yet to be abolished.] At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say … Continue reading Revolutionary constructivism
by Jeff Noonan From its beginnings, philosophy has existed in a state of tension with the given world, the world as it immediately presents itself to human consciousness. There would be no need for philosophy were the truth inscribed on the surface of things, but experience teaches that appearances can be deceiving. Philosophy arises out of reflection upon this experience of a failure of identity between appearances and reality. Beneath its disciplinary divisions, philosophy is the search for a unified method of inquiry, argument, and communication capable of discovering, proving, and disseminating the truth. Philosophy must therefore be, as a … Continue reading Philosophy as critique and ideology
by Sanjay Perera
We are approaching the world historical moment that gives us the end of capitalism. So it is not a surprise to see a resurgence in the ideas of Karl Marx. But to say there should also be a widespread interest in Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, or Lenin, usually conjures up notions associated with the slide of Marx’s ideas into violence and revolutions gone wrong Continue reading Lenin for the 21st century
Philosophers for Change 