Semantic Traps

Semantic Traps:
Politics with Loaded Terms

A Seminar for Scholars, Journalists and Entrepreneurs

“One must always repeat the truth, because even the error around us is preached again and again. And not from individuals but from the crowd.”   J.W. von Goethe

     When political speech writers pen speeches for presidents, prime ministers, and other influential dignitaries, they choose their words carefully, knowing that rhetoric matters. A classic case of an intentional deception of words, according to Schumpeter was the hijacking of the term liberal. In a similar fad, the market economy is increasingly condemned as a system of crony capitalists, the empty notion of social justice turned into a general verdict on our society’s moral status, or carbon pollution became a substitute for the greenhouse gases. In chapter 7 of The Fatal Conceit, “Our Poisoned Language,” F.A. von Hayek lists over 100 words before which we put social ranging from social accounting to social property to social waste, and in each case obfuscate their meaning.
Have you ever wondered how many of our habitual political terms have assumed quite different meanings or, maybe deliberately, have even taken on undertones that suggest something detrimental to what we want to get across? It seems as if the old Confucius warning “when words lose their meaning people will lose their liberty” has more relevance today then ever before.
With Confucius’ admonition in mind, PERC, Liechenstein Academy, and ECAEF have teamed up to organize a seminar on “Semantic Traps: Politics with Loaded Terms”. Details including the agenda are listed below. If you are interested in finding out more about the seminar, contact co-directors, Terry Anderson or Kurt Leube.

Seminar Date:  June 9-11, 2016 (Thu evening to Sat noon)

Location:  Liechtenstein Academy Foundation Campus: Freudenfels Castle at Lake Constance, Eschenz, Switzerland

Admission Fee:  Free Admission

Program Director:  Hans-Rudolf Maag

Academic Directors:  Terry L. Anderson and Kurt R. Leube

Seminar Program

Thursday – 9 June, 2016:
tbd Opening Dinner (optional) and welcoming remarks by H.S.H. Prince Michael of Liechtenstein

Friday – 10 June, 2016:
09:00 – 09:30 Registration
09:30 – 10:00 Welcome and Opening
Member of the Princely Family (LI), Hans-Rudolf Maag (CH) and
Terry L. Anderson (USA)

Session I: Politics
10:00 – 10:30 «On the Confusion of Terms in the Political Debate»
Michael Wohlgemuth (D)
10:30 – 10:45 Discussion
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 11:45 «Justice, Fairness, Solidarity! The Prophecy of a ‘Socially Just’ Society»
Hardy Bouillon (D)
11:45 – 12:00 Discussion
12:00 – 12:30 «Is the ‘Public Interest’ really in the Public’s Interest?»
Carlos Gebauer (D)
12:30 – 12:45 Discussion
12:45 – 14:00 Buffet Lunch for all participants at seminar site

Session II: Economics
14:00 – 14:30 «Are the Poor really Getting Poorer as the Rich are Getting Richer?»
Erich Weede (D)
14:30 – 14:45 Discussion
14:45 – 15:15 «In Defense of Private Property»
Gary Libecap (USA)
15:15 – 15:30 Discussion
15:30 – 16:00 «Fair Trade and Sustainability: Is Globalization Evil?»
Robert Nef (CH)
16:00 – 16:15 Discussion
16:15 – 16:45 Coffee break
16:45 – 18:00 Q&A, Session I and II
19:00  Dinner at the seminar site (Freudenfels Castle; mandatory); Speaker TBA

Saturday – 11 June, 2016:
08.00 – 09.15 Breakfast
09:30 – 09:45 Directorial Remarks
Hans-Rudolf Maag

Session III: Environmental Issues
09:45 – 10:15 «Dynamic Economics and Dynamic Ecology: The Essence of Free Market
Environmentalism»
Terry L. Anderson (USA)
10:15 – 10:30 Discussion
10:30 – 11:00 «On Secular vs. Non-Secular Environmental Beliefs»
Mark Pennington (UK)
11:00 – 11:15 Discussion
11:15 – 11:45 Coffee break
11:45 – 12:15 «Unleashing the Power of Free Market Environmentalism»
Martin Hostettler (CH)
12:15 – 12:30 Discussion
12:30 – 12:45 Closing remarks
Member of the Princely Family (LI), Hans-Rudolf Maag (CH) and
Terry L. Anderson (USA)
12:45 Individual departures