hey everyone, test

here is us in class blogging right now and losing our confusion

Class assigments

For everyone's reference, whenever you are confused about what the homework assignment is for any class, just check on the class calendar on the right side of the blog. Once you click on the calendar, you'll see the calendar displaying a whole month, with the days we meet highlighted (I think in blue). If you click on any specific day, the details concerning that day will open up, letting you know exactly what the reading is, page numbers, etc.

On an unrelated note, whenever you post something to the blog, please do everyone a favor and check your spelling... and if I ever misspell something, whoever catches me first gets some extra credit... but if you catch something and it's actually spelled correctly, I get to... I'll figure something out later.

The Income Tax

Here is the video I told you about exploring the legality of the income tax. Although I am posting this here, don't assume that I am condoning not paying taxes. This is simply meant to be informative and something interesting to think about.

Although there may be no explicit law stating that income (not for profit) can be taxed, there are three different types of laws you should be aware of: statutory law, case law, and administrative law.

Statutory law is enacted by congress through the regular process of legislation. Case law is law that is decided in court cases (like Roe v. Wade, for instance). Administrative law gives government agencies the power to create rules that can be legally enforced just like statutory and case laws. This last type would be what gives the IRS the power to tax citizens, even though there is no explicit law written by congress supporting it.

What I am not sure about is whether this administrative law (if it exists) would or would not violate the 16th amendment to the constitution. Anyone know?

Plato's Euthyphro

Following this link will take you to a file hosting service from which you can download a pdf version of the reading due January 31st, which is Plato's dialogue entitled Euthyphro. The language used in the dialogue is rather easy to understand, but Socrates' mastery of logic and and a cross-examination method, actually known as the socratic dialectic (in his honor), combined with the fact that he is making a point that was philosophically unprecedented, will probably have you spinning in circles. Don't worry if this is the case. The Rachels book will help you understand Socrates' points, and I'll do the same during class.

For those of you who work more efficiently through auditory perception, you can also follow this link to listen to an mp3 version of the same dialogue from LibriVox.

Confirming subscriptions

This post is simply a way for you guys to check whether your membership in the blog was successful. If it was, then you should either get an e-mail about it, or should be able to see it in whatever rss feeder you use.

If you thought you subscribed successfully, and didn't receive any notification, let me know.