Philosophy and Economics

Two of my special areas of interest have been international trade and the nature of human knowledge. Following are some of my articles in these areas. There's also a tape transcript of a conversation with Brand Blanshard, my friend and teacher, who discussed a wide range of topics -- from the theory of truth to the question of whether philosophy is making any progress.

• "Flawed Economics: Protectionism and Industry Targeting"(The Cato Institute)
  A research study and policy analysis on the economics of international trade and industrial policy, with particular application to U.S.-Japan trade in semiconductor chips. Deals with the effects of industry targeting and the arguments that a monopoly can be sustained by predatory price-cutting, as well as with broader issues of monetary and exchange-rate stability. This study was published by The Cato Institute, a Washington, DC think tank.
  
  
• "Chip Battle: the Consumer Component" (The Wall Street Journal)
  Discusses the economics of U.S-Japan trade in semiconductor chips. Shows the fallacy involved in "industry targeting" and government industrial policy. Proposes measures to strengthen U.S. industrial and economic competitiveness in the world economy.
  
  
• A conversation with Brand Blanshard
  A tape transcript of a conversation in which Professor Blanshard (author of The Nature of Thought, Reason and Analysis, and many other influential works) discusses the coherence theory of truth, his critique of positivism, problems in the idea of self-evident propositions, sense-data statements, and the question of whether philosophy is making any progress.
  
  
• "Foundationalism, Coherentism, and Epistemic Ultimates" (seminar paper)
  Shows that the foundationalist theory of the structure of knowledge requires the existence of epistemically-ultimate propositions, and demonstrates that such propositions are impossible. Can be seen as the first in a series, followed by "Knowledge, Experience, and Justification" and "Blanshard, Rescher, and the Coherence Theory of Truth."
  
  
• "Knowledge, Experience, and Justification" (seminar paper)
  Admits that coherentism has not done justice to foundationalism's key insight -- that there is a "given" element in experience to which empirical judgments must somehow be tied. Shows that foundationalists have failed to embody this insight in a defensible theory. Sketches a new theory of the origin and nature of perceptual judgments that connects elementary perceptual judgments with sub-judgmental "bare experience." Reveals how universally-misunderstood ideas from Wittgenstein help to solve these problems. Can be seen as the second in a series, followed by "Blanshard, Rescher, and the Coherence Theory of Truth."
  
  
• "Blanshard, Rescher, and the Coherence Theory of Truth" (Idealistic Studies)
  A far-ranging article that shows logical coherence to be both the test and the nature of truth, discusses the nature of atomic particles, and elucidates the nature of both perceptual judgments and universals. Develops further the ideas in "Foundationalism, Coherentism, and Epistemic Ultimates" and "Knowledge, Experience, and Justification."
  
  
• "Practitions and Deontic Logic" (seminar paper)
  Examines the "practitional" theory of moral judgment advanced by Hector-Neri Castaneda. Shows that basing moral judgments on practitions leads to insuperable problems, and proposes a more workable theory.