The Pitfall of Reason: Against First Principles

Source: Students For Liberty
by Eloy Vera

“Living in populist times, libertarians might feel vindicated in their criticism of those who imagine themselves as guardians of all higher wisdom and moral purpose, elites who must steer society against the worst instincts of the baser people. Some even cave to the populist temptation of glorifying the masses in their simplicity of mind, their rusticness of spirit, their no-nonsense deference to de-intellectualized traditions. Condescension and romanticism blend into this view of the plebeian man as naturally irreflexive and prone to lose himself in the collectivist flow, a whip for the guilt-ridden intellectual to self-flagellate with. Many libertarians fit this type of the solitary erudite striving to understand through analytical reason what he can’t embrace through sheer sentiment.” (12/18/24)

https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/the-pitfall-of-reason-against-first-principles/