August 18, 2004

PrestoPundit = Greg Ransom

Reporters, newspaper columnists, radio hosts, and other journalists have been regular visitors to this site from the beginning, and these folks have some right to know a little bit more about who I am. Others of you may simply wonder, who is this guy that's posting all of this stuff? Well, let me tell you.

My name, of course, is Greg Ransom. I have degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from the U. of Washington in Seattle and the U. of California in Riverside. I'm ABD "all but dissertation" in Philosophy at UCR, where I studied under Alex Rosenberg and Larry Wright, two of the best philosophers of science in the business.

I currently edit the Friedrich Hayek Scholars Page and I administer the Hayek-L email list for scholars and journalists. I'm recognized by academics in the field as one of the most knowledgeable Hayek scholars in the world. I have a dissertation in the works on Friedrich Hayek and the nature of scientific explanation in the social sciences. Read some of my academic papers here. I've taught the following subjects at UCR and MiraCosta College: philosophy of law, critical thinking, moral philosophy, logic and introduction to philosophy.

I have a wife and kids, and I spend a lot of time taking care of them. I work part time, and donations are accepted here. Orange County California is my current home. I was raised, however, in the state of Washington, where I still have family.

I've over the years I've worked outside the Ivory Tower as a press secretary in a political campaign, on a Navy fast frigate, in a meat packing plant, at a Washington, D.C. think tank, in the sports department of a newspaper, and as an energy analyst.

In the field of philosophy, beyond my research on Hayek and the philosophy of economics, I've also worked on topics in the philosophy biology, mind, law, ethics, and the general growth of scientific knowledge. I spent several years intensely reading the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein with Larry Wright, and I also consider myself something of an unpublished Wittgenstein scholar.

I should add that I know at least something about journalism. I've taken courses in journalism and its history at the U. of Washington's Dept. of Communications. Over the years I've published Op-Ed pieces in the Seattle Times and the Portland Oregonian. I've worked as a press secretary and I've written sports for a city newspaper. More than enough background to be on the staff of the LA Times, don't you think?

What else is there to say? I've read about every word in print by H.L. Mencken and I've visited the Mencken room in Baltimore. I did roll-your-own Drudge style blogging before anyone ever heard of InstaPundit or MovableType. I like to garden. I wave the flag. I don't like paying taxes. But enough. Back to blogging. Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack


BOOKS via AMAZON

Weapons of Mass Distortion : The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media
by L. Brent Bozell
We the Media
by Dan Gillmore
Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite
by Bernard Goldberg
Treachery : How America's Friends and Foes Are Secretly Arming Our Enemies
by Bill Gertz
Unfit for Command : Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry
by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi
Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War
by Douglas Brinkley
Bringing the Jobs Home: How the Left Created the Outsourcing Crisis--And How We Can Fix It
by Todd Buchholz
The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations
by James Surowiecki
Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day : The Real Deal on How Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America
by Joe Scarborough
Can America Survive?: The Rage of the Left, the Truth, and What to Do About It
by Ben Stein and Phil Demuth
Intellectual Morons : How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas
by Daniel Flynn
Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency
by Patrick J. Buchanan
If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It
by Hugh Hewitt
How Capitalism Saved America : The Untold History of Our Country, from the Pilgrims to the Present
by Thomas DiLorenzo
The Bush Betrayal
by James Bovard
Running On Empty: How The Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
by Peter Peterson
Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography
by William F. Buckley
Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man
> Peace Kills
by P. J. O'Rourke
Give Me a Break
by John Stossel
Applied Economics
by Thomas Sowell
The Road to Serfdom
by F. A. Hayek
The Constitution of Liberty
by F. A. Hayek
Hayek's Challenge
by Bruce Caldwell
(Amazon)
More Hayek Books