Monthly Archives: January 2020

The mystery of the moral obligation

Posted on January 31, 2020 by koenfucius

(featured image credit: Arek Socha/Pixabay) It may sound like the title of a Sherlock Holmes story, but moral obligation is rather more mysterious Imagine you are offered an interest free loan, with a moral obligation to repay it. That’s it. … Continue reading →

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The needs of the many

Posted on January 24, 2020 by koenfucius

(featured image: Isriya Paireepairit CC BY) Rules and laws matter, and they often matter even more when we don’t like them – because they protect the needs of the many against attacks by the powerful few The works of William … Continue reading →

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The cost of entitlement

Posted on January 17, 2020 by koenfucius

(featured image: Vitaly Vlasov) On economics, law and personal conviction In 1865, a Dr Sturges purchased a property at no. 85, Wimpole Street in London’s Westminster borough. He must have been doing good business, since in 1873 he decided to … Continue reading →

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Unjust deserts

Posted on January 10, 2020 by koenfucius

(featured image: Aimee Ray CC BY) Many people see meritocracy as a worthy ideal: everyone gets what they deserve. Luck can mess this up: it is, by definition, something we don’t deserve. But is it really that simple? Imagine you … Continue reading →

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Giving time

Posted on January 3, 2020 by koenfucius

(featured image credit Chris Zúniga CC BY) When it comes to what we can do for others, time is the thing. By the late 1930s, De Beers, which at the time controlled well over half of the global production of … Continue reading →

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