Mark D. White

Boy, talk about déjà vu–two weeks since my last update and things are very similar…

• Another two new Psychology Today posts, both stemming from readers' comments: "Is Self-Loathing an "All-or-Nothing" Proposition?" (November 13) and "Does Self-Loathing Get Better or Worse in Certain Situations?" (November 20).
• Another conference–going on as I write, in fact–this time the Southern Economic Association meetings in Washington, where I am giving two papers, one an overview of my book Kantian Ethics and Economics: Autonomy, Dignity, and Character, and the other an elaboration of some themes in it–specifically, whether it is true that "every man has his price," or, in other words, if financial or materials considerations can ever affect truly moral behavior. Against all expectations, I say yes, but only in very particular instances: namely, tragic dilemmas in which one has to compromise one obligation to perform another, the choice between which can be affected by material considerations since there are no hard and fast rules regarding these choices. I gave that talk yesterday (Saturday), and it went very well–I actually recount some of yesterday's experiences in today's Psychology Today post. Let's hope this afternoon's goes as well!
• I also posted a number of things to Economics and Ethics, mostly pointing out interesting work without much comment ("if it ain't broke…"), but one piece had a little more oomp to it: "I may suck, but not as much as you" (November 10), which commented on the inauthenticity of people's focus on relative well-being.

Reappointments are done at work, which frees up a lot of time for writing, which I hope to do much more of from this point on–watch this space!