Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I was recently asked by a friend of mine the following question: “Why is anarchism good? Give me a mission statement on its benefits. Also, why is cooperation good (if you believe that it is)?” Here is the off-the-cuff response I gave: In a nutshell, anarchism is good because the alternative (statism) is not good.…

“Bosses enjoy a presumption of veracity in these situations–they’re believed simply because they open their mouths–in just the way and for just the reasons that cops do in a court of law.” Capitalism and the state — two great tastes t…

In my last post, on the backstory to my recent traffic stop, I mentioned that I didn’t think I’d get stopped for my not-suspended license and registration, but prepared for it anyway, and did get stopped. What happened next? In a certain sense, not much. I was stopped by Connor F. Gallagher of the Raritan…

[…] Moralism, nationalism, and identity politics Andrew J Cohen, RCL […]

I accidentally posted the wrong version of my last post, “Thoughts on a Traffic Stop,” but I’m at work right now and can’t fix it, so I’ll have to re-post the correct version tomorrow. I blame WordPress’s stupid-ass…

[…] his advice a bit paranoid. Assuming that I followed all traffic regulations to the letter–and you would not expect moi to do otherwise–on what basis could the police stop me for possessing an unregistered and insured car […]…

[…] revocation for malfeasances of just this kind. In this bureaucratic universe, “proof” means “document in a police report, even if written by a semi-literate police officer, indifferent to fact and inattentive to details, [&#…