“I grew up as an only child of two parents who had dropped out of high school. They had enormous respect for education and encouraged me as a child when I had strong interests in both math and science, but we really didn't have much by way of educational role modeling in our family.” WayChildrenTwoSchoolStrongParentInterestRolesGrewGrew UpHigh SchoolEducationalMathEnormousOur FamilyRole ModelsModelingOnly ChildMath And Science Author:Dale Jamieson
“Aristotle thought that humans are rational animals and Hobbes thought that we act on the basis of rational self-interest. If only! It's not that we never do these things, it's that they are hardly constituative of who and what we are.” IfsHumansSelfInterestAnimalBasesRationalSelf InterestHobbes Author:Dale Jamieson
“In this era of globalization we are witnessing struggles within individual states about what their identity and interests consist in.” StatesIndividualInterestStruggleIdentityErasGlobalization Author:Dale Jamieson
“Is it in the interests of Britain to leave or remain in the EU? As we saw in the referendum, there are different Britains and they see their interests in different ways. For a lot of everyday blokes the EU affected their sense of identity in ways they disliked, and they were right in thinking that the EU didn't return much to them by way of economic benefits.” ThinkingWayDifferentInterestSawsEconomicIdentityReturnBenefitsEverydayDifferent WaysBritainAffectedBlokesReferendums Author:Dale Jamieson
“Is it in the UK's interests to leave the EU? It depends on your values. The answer can't be read off of GDP statistics under various scenarios or some measures of global influence.” ValuesInterestAnswersInfluenceDependsVariousStatisticsScenariosGdp Author:Dale Jamieson
“Citizens often think of a state's interests in terms of the promotion of ideals such as democracy, a particular way of life, or other values which they endorse or see as part of their historical continuity and identity. In this domain as in others values are not fixed, and so a state's interests are dynamic and in a constant state of negotiation and construction.” ThinkingWayStatesValuesTermInterestDemocracyIdentityParticularCitizensIdealsConstantHistoricalFixedConstructionNegotiationDomainPromotionContinuity Author:Dale Jamieson
“If you have a flat, fixed view of state interest then it is difficult to understand why some states adopt aggressive climate change policies, even when that risks economically disadvantaging them, and other states do not even when it would be in their economic interests to do so.” IfsStatesWould BeDifficultInterestViewsRiskEconomicPolicyClimateClimate ChangeFixedFlatsAggressive Author:Dale Jamieson
“People and countries have done an enormous amount of damage in their attempts to bring about the best possible world. Communism is an obvious example. But so is British imperialism, which was not grubby self-interest all the way down, but at least in part a sincere attempt on the part of people who felt they were superior to other people to magnanimously improve the lot of their inferiors.” PeopleWorldWaySelfCountryDoneFeltInterestExampleAmountObviousBritishEnormousSuperiorsCommunismDamageSincereInferiorsImperialismSelf Interest Author:Dale Jamieson
“I think, questions about what it means to respect nature become very important because just as in human society, for example, part of what it is for me to live a good life as a human being in a human society is to have respect for others around me. Now, that respect, to some extent, can be thought of as being grounded in the rights and interest of others but it also has to do with the stance that I take in the world and what it is that provides meaning and significance in my own life and I think there are similar ideas of respect for nature that apply as well.” ThinkingWorldMeanImportantInterestSignificanceGood LifeRespecting Others Author:Dale Jamieson
“None of us are rational economic men as we're supposed to be portrayed in economic theory where mixes of passions, of desires, of moral principles, of self-deception, of altruism, of concern of others, of concerns for ourselves and an interest in our bank accounts. And social policies have to be responsive to the complexity of who we are as people or else, like the war on drugs, they're simply going to fail.” PeopleMenWarDesirePassionInterestMoralFailingEconomicPolicyDrugConcernRationalComplexityAltruismWar On Drugs Author:Dale Jamieson
“Philosophy isn't reading Emmanuel Kant. Philosophy is about thinking hard about what the right thing to do is in a situation and approaching that kind of question in an open-minded and open-hearted way, receptive to a broad range of considerations and interests of other people and other things.” PeopleThinkingKindPhilosophyReadingInterestSituationRight ThingConsideration Author:Dale Jamieson
