Michael Huemer

Michael Huemer
Born	(1969-12-27) December 27, 1969
Alma mater	B.A., University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., Rutgers University
Notable work	Approaching Infinity The Problem of Political Authority Ethical Intuitionism Skepticism and the Veil of Perception
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic, Libertarianism
Institutions	University of Colorado, Boulder
Main interests	Epistemology, Meta-ethics, Ethics, Political Philosophy
Notable ideas	Phenomenal conservatism
Influences Thomas Reid, G. E. Moore, David D. Friedman
Influenced Bryan Caplan

Michael Huemer (born 27 December 1969) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder.^[1] He has defended ethical intuitionism, direct realism, libertarianism and philosophical anarchism.^[2]

Viewpoints

Critique of skepticism

Huemer has been critical of radical philosophical skepticism. His first book, Skepticism and the Veil of Perception, published in 2001, argued that (a) perception gives us direct awareness of real objects, not mental representations, and (b) we have non-inferential knowledge of (some of) the properties of these objects.^[3] The book was reviewed in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews^[4] and elsewhere.^[5][6]

Instead, Huemer endorses the principle of compassionate phenomenal conservatism, which states:

If it seems to S that p, then, in the absence of defeaters, S thereby has at least some degree of justification for believing that p.^[7]

Huemer considers phenomenal conservatism to be a form of foundationalism.^[8]

Ethical intuitionism and Moral Realism

Huemer is a moral realist and ethical intuitionist, i.e., he maintains that there are objective moral facts, knowable through ethical intuition. Huemer has defended these positions in his book Ethical Intuitionism and elsewhere.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

Huemer's book on ethical intuitionism was reviewed in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews,^[12] Philosophy and Phenomenological Research^[13] and Mind.^[14]

Critique of Ayn Rand

Despite agreements about moral objectivism and about the moral justness of capitalism, Huemer disagrees with Ayn Rand's moral philosophy of Objectivism because of the centrality Rand gave to selfishness as a desirable virtue.^[15] Huemer's critique has been critiqued by others.^[16]

In March 2009, Huemer debated the topic of Ayn Rand's ethics with Onkar Ghate of the Ayn Rand Institute.^[17]

In a Cato Unbound discussion in January 2010, Huemer argued that connecting libertarianism to Ayn Rand's meta-ethical framework is probably not the best strategy for making libertarianism more broadly popular.^[18] The other participants in the discussion were Douglas Rasmussen, Roderick Long, and Neera Badhwar.^[19]

Anarcho-capitalism

Huemer describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist, and claims to be both a philosophical anarchist and a political anarchist. His book The Problem of Political Authority argues in detail for both philosophical and political anarchism.^[20] He also defended the argument of the book in a video.^[21]

While he was still writing the book (then titled Freedom and Authority), Huemer was profiled by the Arts and Sciences Magazine of the University of Colorado, Boulder.^[22] The profile quoted Huemer as saying that political authority is "a moral illusion we’re suffering from."

Huemer's UC Berkeley schoolmate, economist Bryan Caplan, played an important role in evangelizing Huemer's book by way of his blog, EconLog, as noted by a number of other reviewers of the book.^[23][24] Caplan used EconLog to solicit potential titles for the book, although none of the titles suggested in the comments was ultimately adopted.^[25] Caplan argued that what made Huemer's book special was that it started from reasonable and common-sense moral premises that many non-libertarians would agree with and applied them consistently to reach radical libertarian conclusions, setting the book apart from the writings of people like Murray Rothbard, Ayn Rand, and Robert Nozick.^[26][27] Caplan also used his blog to solicit reader questions on Huemer's book.^[28]

Arnold Kling reviewed Huemer's book for the Library of Economics and Liberty website.^[29] Huemer responded to Kling, and Kling published some of the subsequent back-and-forth on his blog.^[30]

Huemer was the lead essayist of the Cato Unbound March 2013 issue. The topic of the issue was Authority, Obedience, and the State and it was largely focused on Huemer's book and the arguments put forward by Huemer in the book. The other participants in the debate were Bryan Caplan, Tom G. Palmer, and Nicole Hassoun.^[31]

In July 2013, the bleeding-heart libertarians blog announced a symposium on The Problem of Political Authority.^[32] The symposium started August 12, 2013.^[33] Huemer's critics included Kevin Vallier, Chris Morris, Bas van der Vossen, and Massimo Renzo. Huemer responded to critics in late August 2013.^[34][35]

The book was also reviewed separately by Perry Metzger at Samizdata,^[23] by the Peace Requires Anarchy blog,^[24] and by Le Québécois Libre.^[36] It was also reviewed at Oxymorons Reviews^[37] and tangentially referenced in Jason Brennan's review in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews of a book by Gary Chartier.^[38]

Other views

Huemer has argued in favor of open borders (freedom of movement, migration).^[39][40][41] His arguments have been praised and critiqued by many people including Jason Brennan, Miles Kimball, and Bryan Caplan.^{[42][43][44][45][46]}

Huemer has also defended the right of gun ownership.^[47]

Huemer has been critical of the War on Drugs, describing it as unjust.^[48] Huemer's essay was included as part of The Ethical Life, a collection of essays published by Oxford University Press.^[49] It was also part of an essay collection titled The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War.^[50][51]

Huemer has expressed the view that political irrationality is common, drawing on Caplan's work on rational irrationality. He expressed these views in a lengthy online essay^[52] as well as in a TEDx video.^[53] Huemer's essay and video have been cited in discussions of irrationality in politics, religion, and personal ethics.^{[54][55][56][57]}

Huemer has been critical of course evaluations as a means for students to evaluate faculty, noting perverse incentives, while still observing that these are more reliable than faculty peer evaluations.^[58][59] His views on student evaluations have been critiqued and referenced by many other writers.^{[60][61][62][63]}

Huemer has also defended metaphysical libertarianism and incompatibilism on the problem of free will.^[64][65]

Huemer is a vegetarian. In October 2016, he engaged in a lengthy online debate with Bryan Caplan on animal rights. Huemer said of factory farming, "It's as if we were repeating the Holocaust five times every year."^[66]

References