Gary J. Bass, The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide (New York: Knopf, 2013) ("Govinda Chandra Dev was an elderly philosophy professor at Dacca University and the author of several books, including one with the unthreatening title Buddha, the Humanist. He was a Hindu, but reminded Blood, who was friendly with him, of Santa Claus. 'He was a roly-poly, gray-haired, jovial guy,' recalls Scott Butcher, who knew him. 'He was a very pacifistic figure, well known and well liked in American circles. He was apolitical as far as I could tell.' Early in the crackdown, Dev was dragged out of his home, hauled to a field in front of the Hindu dormitory at the university, and shot dead. 'There was no other reason that he was killed other than being a Hindu professor,' says Butcher." "This kind of deliberate ethnic targeting was the most reliable basis for the Blood telegram's accusation of genocide...." Id. at 80-81. "'Had Blood not done this,' says Griffel, 'he would have hit rock bottom in a different way. And possibly a worse way. Not for everyone, but for a man like Arch, there are worse things than losing your career. I don't like using words that don't have an accurate meaning, but he was a man of honor. In his own view, he would have lost his honor.'" Id. at 118. Also see Dexter Filkins, "Collateral Damage," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 9/29/2013.).
Angus Deaton, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality (Princeton & Oxford: Princeton U. Press, 2013) (See blogpost of 12/11/2013. Also, see David Leonhardt, "A Cockeyed Optimist," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 12/22/2013.).
Kerry Emanuel, What We Know About Climate Change, 2d. ed. ( Boston Review Book) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: MIT Press, 2013) (see my blog post of 11/14/2013).
William Findley, Observations on 'The Two Sons of Oil': Containing a Vindication of the American Constitution, and Defending the Blessings of Religious Liberty and Toleration, against the Illiberal Strictures of the Rev. Samuel B, Wylie, edited and with an introduction by John Caldwell (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2007) (From Caldwell's Introduction: "The following work was an important contribution to the early debates about the nature of the American constitutional regime. How should people of faith relate to the national and state governments? What ought the relationship of church and government look like? What are the foundations of religious liberty in America? Given the persistent interest in this subject throughout the political history of our republic, Findley's commentary offers an informed and salutary reminder of the early historical context that first defined our constitutional traditions." Id. at xvii.).
Robert William Fogel, Enid M. Fogel, Mark Guglielmo, & Nathaniel Grotte, Political Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics (Chicago & London: U. of Chicago Press, 2013) (From the "Introduction: The Amazing Twentieth Century": "During the last six or so decades of the twentieth century, the domination of output by material products began to be eroded at an increasing rate. The rise to dominance of immaterial commodities is symbolized by the growth of such professional occupations as physicians, mathematicians, natural scientists, lawyers, teachers, and engineers from barely 4 percent of the labor force in 1900 to over a third today. Similarly, the main form of capital at the end of the twentieth century was not buildings, machines, or electrical grids but labor skills, what economists call human capital or knowledge capital. Both for individuals and for business, it is the size and quality of these immaterial assets that determine success in competitive markets and in conditions of life for ordinary people." "The agenda for egalitarian policies that has dominated reform movements for most of the past century, the modernist agenda, was based on material redistribution. The critical aspect of a postmodern egalitarian agenda is not the redistribution of money income, or food, or shelter, or consumer durables. Although there are still glaring inadequacies in the distribution of material commodities, the most intractable maldistributions in rich countries such as the United States are in the realm of spiritual or immaterial assets. There are the critical assets in the struggle for self-realization." "Some proponents of egalitarianism insist on characterizing the material level of the poor today as being harsh. They confound current and past conditions of living. Failure to recognize the enormous material gains over the last century, even for the poor, impedes rather than advances the struggle against chronic poverty in rich nations, whose principal characteristic is the spiritual estrangement from the mainstream society of those so afflicted. Although material assistance is an important element in the struggle to overcome spiritual estrangement, such assistance will no be properly targeted if one assumes that improvement in material conditions naturally leads to spiritual improvement." "Realization of the potential of an individual is not something that can be legislated by the state, nor can it be provided to the weak by the strong. The government cannot transfer virtue from those who have it in abundance to those who are bereft of it. Nor can the rich write out checks denominated in virtue, Self-realization has to develop within each individual on the basis of a succession of choices. The emphasis in individual choice does not mean that other individuals and institutions play no role. Quite the contrary, the quality of the choices and the range of opportunities depend critically on how well endowed an individual is with critical spiritual resources." "The quest for spiritual equity thus turns not so much on money as on access to immaterial assets, most of which are transferred and developed privately rather than through the market. Moreover, some of the most critical spiritual assets, such as a sense of purpose, self-esteem, a sense of discipline, a vision of opportunity, and a thirst for knowledge, are transferred at very young ages." Id. at 8-9.).
Hugo Grotius, The Truth of the Christian Religion, with Jean Le Clerc's Notes and Additions, Translated by John Clark (1743) (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited and with an introduction by Maria Rosa Antognazza (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2012).
David B. Grusky, Doug McAdam, Rob Reich & Debra Satz, eds., Occupy the Future (Boston Review Books) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: MIT Pres, 2013) ("What becomes of the Occupy movement will depend not just on external events . . . but also whether those who identify with the movement can fashion a compelling narrative that reenergizes protest around the issue of inequality. Given that the United States has historically been quite tolerant of inequality, it's not enough to proclaim that inequality has suddenly become too high. What, precisely, makes it too high? Don't we need to consider how so much inequality has been generated? Don't we need to examine the consequences of rising inequality for other outcomes that we cherish, such as opportunities for political expression? Don't we need to think carefully about the types and forms of inequality that are and aren't legitimate? The simple agenda behind this book is to take on these and related questions and thereby begin to develop a far-reaching and resonant narrative." Id. at 4-5.).
Nader Hashemi & Danny Postel, ed., The Syria Dilemma (Boston Review Books) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: MIT Press, 2013).
Francis Hutcheson, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited and with an introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2002) ("The confused Use of the Names, Love, Hatred, Joy, Sorrow, Delight, has made some of the most important Distinctions of our Affections and Passions, to be overlooked. No Modifications of Mind can be more different from each other, than a private Desire, and a publick; yet both are called Love. The Love of Money, for Instance, the Love of a generous Character, or a Friend: The Love of a fine seat, and the Love of a Child. In like manner, what can be more different than the Sorrows for a Loss befallen our selves, and Sorrow for the Death of a Friend? If this Men must convince themselves by Reflection." "There is also considerable Difference even among the selfish Passions, which bear the same general Name, according to the different Senses which constitute the Objects good or evil. Thus the desire of Honour, and he Desire of Wealth, are certainly very different sorts of Affections, and accompanied with different Sensations: The Sorrow in like manner for our Loss by as Shipwreck, and our Sorrow for having done a base Action, or Remorse: Sorrow for our being subject to the Gout or Stone, and Sorrow for out being despised and condemned, or Shame: Sorrow for the Damage done by a Fire, and that Sorrow which arises upon an apprehended Injury from a Partner, or any other of our Fellows, which we call Anger. Where we get some special distinct Names, we more easily acknowledge a Difference, as it may appear in Shame and Anger, but had we other Names, appropriated in the same manner, we should imagine, with good ground,as many distinct Passions: The like Confusion is observable about our Senses." Id. at 53-54.).
Francis Hutcheson, An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas if Beauty and Virtue, Revised Edition (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited and with an introduction by Wolfgang Leidhold (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004, 2008) ("Men have Reason given them, to judge of the Tendencys of their Actions, that they many not stupidly follow the first Appearance of publick Good; but it is still some Appearance of Good which they pursue. And it is strange, that Reason is universally allow'd to Men, notwithstanding all the stupid, ridiculous Opinions receiv'd in many Places, and yet absurd Practices, founded upon those very Opinions, shall seem an Argument against any moral Sense; altho the bad Conduct is not owing to any Irregularity in the moral Sense, but to a wrong Judgment or Opinion. If putting the Aged to death, with all its Consequences, really tends to the publick Good, and to the lesser Misery of the Aged, it is no doubt justifiable; nay, perhaps the Aged chuse it, in hopes of a future State. If a deform'd, or weak Race, could never, by Ingenuity and Art, make themselves useful to Mankind, but should grow an absolutely unsupportable Burden, so as to involve a whole State in Misery, it is just to put them to death. This all allow to be just, in the Case of an over-loaded Boat in a Storm. And for killing of their Children, when parents are sufficiently stock'd, it is perhaps practis'd, and allow'd from Self-love; but I can scarce think it passes for a good Action any where. If Wood, or Stone, or Metal be a Deity, have Government, and Power, and have been the Authors of Benefits to us; it is morally amiable to praise and worship them. Or if the true Deity be pleas'd with Worship before Statues, or any other Symbol of the some more immediate Presence, or Influence; Image-Worship is virtuous. If he delights in Sacrifices, Penances, Ceremonys, Cringings, they are all laudable. Our Sense of Virtue, generally leads us exactly enough according to our Opinion; and therefore the absurd Practices which prevail in the World, are much better Arguments that Men have no Reason, than that they have no moral Sense of Beauty in Actions." Id. at 141.).
Francis Hutcheson, Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited by James Moore and Michael Silverthorne, texts translated from the Latin by Michael Silverthorne, with an introduction by James Moore (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006).
Francis Hutcheson, The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, translated by Francis Hutchesson and James Moor (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited and with an introduction by James Moore and Michael Silverthorne (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2008) ("Don't suffer the mind to wander. Keep justice in view in every design. And in all imaginations which may arise, preserve the judging faculty safe." Id. at 51. "The duration of human life is a point; its substance perpetually flowing; the senses obscure; and the compound body tending to putrefaction: The soul is restless, fortune uncertain, and fame injudicious. To sum up all, the body, and all things related to it, are like a river; what belongs to the animal life, is a dream, and smoak; life a warfare, and a journey in a strange land; surviving fame is but oblivion. What is it then, which can conduct us honourably out of life, and accompany us in our future progress? philosophy alone. And this consists in preserving the divinity within us free from all affronts and injuries, superior to pleasure and pain, doing nothing either inconsiderately, or insincerely and hypocritically; independent on what others may do or not do: embracing chearfully whatever befalls or is appointed, as coming from him, from whom itself was derived; and, above all, expecting death with calm satisfaction, as conceiving it to be only a dissolution of these elements, of which every animal is compounded. And if no harm befalls the elements when each is changed into the other, why should one suspect any harm in the changes and dissolution of them all? It is natural and nothing natural can be evil. This at Carnuntum. Id. at 38-39. "Enure yourself to attend exactly to what is said by others, and to enter into the soul of the speaker." Id. at 81. "What is not the interest of the hive, is not the interest of the bee." Id. at 81.).
Francis Hutcheson, Philosophiae Moralis Institutio Compendiaria, with A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics), edited and with an introduction by Luigi Turco (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2007) ("While our country remains, all good men should be united in this purpose, to deem nothing too hard to be endured or done for its interest; provided it be consistent with the laws of that more antient and sacred association of all mankind, of which God is the parent and governor. 'Out children are dear to us, our wives are dear, so are our parents, out kinsmen, our friends and acquaintance. But our country contains within it all these objects of endearment, and preserves them to us: and therefor every good man should be ready to lay down his life for it, if he can thus do it service.'" Id. 289, quoting Cicero, De officiis 1.57.5.).
Louis Kaplow, Competition Policy and Price Fixing (Princeton & Oxford: Princeton U. Press, 2013).
Pamela S. Karlan, A Constitution For All Times (Boston Review Books) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: MIT Press, 2013) ("The longest-term effect of Bush v. Gore may actually be on the composition of the Court itself. President George W. Bush made two appointments to the Court: one when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died and another when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired. If his two picks--Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito--remain on the Court until they are the age of Justice Stevens when he retired in 2010, they will each be serving until the 2040s. No other legacy of the Bush years--save, perhaps, our staggering national debt and the war on terrorism--is likely to be so enduring." Id. at 59-60. "[T]he main effect of Bush v. Gore isn't so much the substitution of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito for Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice O'Connor. Rather, it's the possible loss of two opportunities for would-have-been President Al Gore to select their successors. On a Court with two more Democratic-nominated justices, the generally conservative Justice Kennedy would likely not be the swing vote as he is today. Instead those two more moderate--or even liberal--justices might form a voting majority along with Justices Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan. That Court might be more committed to equality, to individual litigants' access to the justice system, and to a host of other constitutional claims than has been the Court that Bush v. Gore produced." Id. at 62-63.).
Randall Kennedy, For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law (New York: Pantheon Books, 2013).
David Keith, A Case For Climate Change Engineering (Boston Review Books) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London. England, 2013) (see blog post on 11/15/2013).
Drew Maciag, Edmund Burke in America: The Contested Career of the Father of Modern Conservatism ((Ithaca & London: Cornell U. Press, 2013) (see my blog post of 10/10/2013).
Martha C. Nussbaum, Political Emotions: Why Love Matter for Justice (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: Belknap/Harvard U. Press, 2013) ("Most people tend toward narrowness of sympathy. They can easily become immured in narcissistic projects and forget about the needs of those outside their narrow circle, Emotions directed at the nation and its goals are frequently of great help in getting people to think larger thoughts and recommit themselves to a larger common good." Id. at 3. "I shall argue that all of the core emotions that sustain a decent society have their roots in, or are forms of, love--by which I mean intense attachments to things outside the control of our will." Id. at 15.).
Dara O'Rourke, Shopping For Good (A Boston Review Book) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: MIT Press, 2012).
Robert Pollin, Back to Full Employment (Boston Review Books) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England, 2012) (see my blog post of 11/16/2013).
Paul Sabin, The Bet: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon, and Our Gamble over Earth's Future (New Haven & London: Yale U. Press, 2013) (see my blog post of 10/18/2013).
Alison Wolf, The XX Factor: How the Rise of Working Women Has Created a Far Less Equal World (New York: Crown Publishing, 2013) (see my blog post of 10/20/2013).
