It probably helps to have a little background in microeconomics, literary theory and political philosophy to appreciate the full playfulserious subversive brilliance of Brad DeLong’s A Non-Socratic Dialogue on Social Welfare Functions, but even if you don’t have that background you will enjoy it. If you do have such a background, don’t read it while drinking coffee or there’s a serious risk to your keyboard.
What makes this entry particularly brilliant is not just the self-deprecating manner in which it clubs you over the head with its intelligence, but the hidden subversive message aimed at great philosophers of past, present, and future ages.
Answer key:
Plato – obvious from the cast
Marx – obvious from the text
Pirandello – well, it's only two characters in search of an author, but it's short
Stoppard – Think 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'
D-Squared – look here for more twisted economic theory edginess; alas there's less of it here
Leo Strauss: If I explained that one I'd have to kill you. But look very very carefully at the last few lines of Brad's essay.
Why, thank you…
Brad DeLong, off to watch the DVD of Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros”…