Empiricism Vs. Rationalism

[Libro]

You are quite correct in your disquiet about politcos - they care nothing for rational thought or else theydd be cost accountants (come to think of it that;w hat most of them are) - philosophical thought doesn't enter their limited purview - if it did there would be far more intelliegnce found on this planet rather than the banal ethicz (sic) that pass themselves off as true and abiding principles - the truth is that even personal experience is limited to the perception of the individual and/or the society and thus subjectivity becomes the norm - objective reality is irrational at best.

[108 fountains]

Robert Kennedy reportedly carried around books and/or essays by Albert Camus and, despite being a hard-nosed prosecutor and Attorney General he ascribed his opposition to the death penalty to the influence of Camus on his thinking. There are still a few politicians in Washington who can read, and even a few who can think, but their numbers are dwindling.

[pere4]

for me, empiricism is more important.

[Dreamwoven]

You are quite correct in your disquiet about politcos - they care nothing for rational thought or else theydd be cost accountants (come to think of it that;w hat most of them are) - philosophical thought doesn't enter their limited purview - if it did there would be far more intelliegnce found on this planet rather than the banal ethicz (sic) that pass themselves off as true and abiding principles - the truth is that even personal experience is limited to the perception of the individual and/or the society and thus subjectivity becomes the norm - objective reality is irrational at best.

Economics is probably the least understood of all. We live in an age of neoliberalism (basically letting the markets rip). So now we find ourselves on a boom-slump roller-coaster. The most recent boom broke in 2008/9 with bank runs and bail-outs, and economists are still trying to stimulate the market by using quantitative easing, basically pumping more cash into the economy by printing money. I think we have had 4 of these exercises already, combined with lowering interest rates. It is not working, and now with lending interest rates near zero it gets hard to continue the policy. What next, negative interest rates? Meanwhile the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Where will it end?