what is this substack?
the ends don’t justify the means is a platform for publishing philosophical writing. It has a focus on politics, but sometimes features bonus pieces on cool stuff like space, fiscal decentralisation, and whether we’re obligated to bring back the dinosaurs.
who writes it?
It’s written by me, Rebecca Lowe, from my point of view.
My point of view can broadly be described as classical liberal, but if I were specifying further I’d add in some words including: rights-focused, value pluralist, anti-consequentialist, moral realist, and democratic decentralist.
More simply, I’m a political philosopher with a particular interest in freedom, rights, and equality. I’m Philosophy Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. I’m currently writing a book called Freedom in Utopia, and another called Speaking Freely.
If you want to find out more about me (including links to some previous writing, info about my previous role as Consulting Space Philosopher at a space firm, the names of think tanks and other places I’ve worked at, the topic I wrote my PhD on, the fact that I never want to run for parliament again, and so on) then you can check out rebeccalowe.org.
You can find me on Twitter at @RMLLowe.
I also write a joint Substack called The Pursuit of Liberalism with my friend and Mercatus colleague Henry Oliver.
how often will there be new pieces?
My current practice is to publish the following:
About once a fortnight: a philosophical long-read
Once a week: a ‘top 5 things I’ve been reading’ recommendation list
At least once a month: an episode of my podcast, Working Definition
why subscribe?
You should subscribe, if (as I argue in my first piece on here) any of the following apply:
you love philosophy
you’re looking for political writing by someone who feels free to argue whatever they find convincing, on whatever topics they feel justified to weigh in on (no matter how ‘controversial’)
you’re interested in (or like, or hate) liberalism of some kind, though I aim to be as ecumenical as possible in my arguments
you’re in it for the occasional pieces on space 🚀
