tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post8623734407654498467..comments2024-03-28T06:07:03.667-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: MEMOIR VOLUME TWO CHAPTER 4 FOURTH INSTALLMENTRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-43381893182959732232010-05-25T03:50:26.782-04:002010-05-25T03:50:26.782-04:00Hi, Simon, Great story. Just another example of...Hi, Simon, Great story. Just another example of the new order growing in the womb of the old. How many wonderful evenings I had at Sam and Libby's house in Leverett!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-893270086110127392010-05-25T02:07:29.542-04:002010-05-25T02:07:29.542-04:00Thanks for this - always fascinating to hear more ...Thanks for this - always fascinating to hear more about one's teachers. I was recently taught by both Sam and Herb at the University of Siena (one of the main reasons I went there was to be taught by them). They are fascinating characters and phenomenal teachers, what a pleasure to find out more about the background of yourself, the department at U Mass, and them. Thank you. <br /><br />As an aside, as far as I know, Milton Friedman also tried to recruit Sam to Chicago because he had such a respect for his economics <i>even though</i> he was a radical. The other funny story is that Sam went to Havana to teach economics there for a short while after Harvard, thinking he'd teach more heterodox stuff, then he realised (as had many) that with socialist planning the General Equilibrium solutions could be the same with the central planner replacing the Walrasian auctioneer (other assumptions notwithstanding). Supposedly he popped a postcard to his colleagues at Harvard lamenting this fact, which surprised them all, we're told. He does have many entertaining stories.Simon Hallidayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04289994368497331598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-83651168816295520152010-05-23T11:16:10.526-04:002010-05-23T11:16:10.526-04:00Thanks Matt, I will take a look. One of the endee...Thanks Matt, I will take a look. One of the endeearing things to me about Herb is that he called his son Huck [as in Huckleberry Finn]. he is dauntingly smart, of course.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-70943396931340136112010-05-23T10:41:50.191-04:002010-05-23T10:41:50.191-04:00Have you read any of Gintis's book reviews on ...Have you read any of Gintis's book reviews on Amazon? They are really amazing, huge in number and detail. I'm pretty sure that he no longer considers himself a Maxist, but he's still very interesting. (See his review of G.A. Cohen's _Why Not Socialism_ for an example. You can click on "read all my reviews" from there to see the others.)Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446428606119200980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-60547065845884781372010-05-22T19:58:53.872-04:002010-05-22T19:58:53.872-04:00I know Samuelson was at MIT, but I thought he wrot...I know Samuelson was at MIT, but I thought he wrote in support of Sam. I have a vague recollection that Sam told me that, but of course I could be wrong. Still, as you say, with that kind of support, who could believe he would't get tenure! Their loss was our great gain. By the way, Benjamin Friedman lived across the street from me in Belmont, in the early eighties, Nice guy.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-68338010013739162782010-05-22T19:00:40.286-04:002010-05-22T19:00:40.286-04:00Oh and another detail. Sanuelson at the time was a...Oh and another detail. Sanuelson at the time was already in MIT. The other person Sam had support from was Kenneth Arrow. With that backing of those three and still no tenure....<br />A friend in the department is trying to document the history of the Econ Department in Harvard. Check http://imagininghistory.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-beginning-there-was.htmlIan J. Seda Irizarryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03791805107306447252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-55459927155371450462010-05-22T15:14:31.521-04:002010-05-22T15:14:31.521-04:00Whoops. Google tells me you are there now. Say h...Whoops. Google tells me you are there now. Say hello to all my old friends!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-67302860653712024932010-05-22T15:09:12.854-04:002010-05-22T15:09:12.854-04:00Thank you, Ian. My memory is obviously faulty. I...Thank you, Ian. My memory is obviously faulty. I did not know that Jim was Leonard's student. Did you study at UMass? I will go into the blog and correct it.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-65347420253500161442010-05-22T14:37:33.030-04:002010-05-22T14:37:33.030-04:00The fifth recruit of the "radical package&quo...The fifth recruit of the "radical package", as Don Katzner named it, was Rick Edwards. It is my understanding that Leonard Rapping would come in 74 as a "non-radical hire", along with his former student Jim Crotty.Ian J. Seda Irizarryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03791805107306447252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-15450347591936287562010-05-22T09:51:05.195-04:002010-05-22T09:51:05.195-04:00So would I!So would I!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-75458907586800245542010-05-22T09:18:47.510-04:002010-05-22T09:18:47.510-04:00"...although Kant has a pretty good argument ..."...although Kant has a pretty good argument for the claim that rational agents, if they enter into a Kingdom of Ends, are objectively obligated to abide by its laws [a line of argument he gets from Rousseau], he has in the Grundlegung no proof that rational agents as such are obligated to form a Kingdom of Ends. The dictates of the legislature in the Realm of Ends are therefore hypothetical, not categorical, in force."<br /><br />I would love to see a discussion of your essay re: the "completion of Kant's moral theory."<br /><br />Where would one go?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02508381261535877414noreply@blogger.com