SONG OF MYSELF

'I celebrate myself," as Walt Whitman famously began his poem.  If Whitman can do it, why can't I?  [The obvious answer is, because Whitman was a great poet, and I am no poet at all.  Oh well.]  More than a year ago, I wrote a short book, posted on this blog in segments as I wrote it, called "The Use and Abuse of Formal Models in Political Philosophy."  It now resides on box.net, along with much else that I have written.  Having nothing better to do this afternoon, while the oven heats up to receive a cornish hen, I decided to re-read some of that little book.  I was delighted to discover that it is really very clear, very readable, and a splendid introduction to collective choice theory, rational choice theory, and Game Theory, as well as an acerbic debunking of the so-called Prisoner's Dilemma.  Having long ago learned, though not actually from Walt Whitman, that if you do not sing a song of yourself probably nobody else will, I heartily recommend my web-book to anyone who has a serious interest in the formal side of political theory but has somehow managed to reach this point in life without mastering the technical materials that others deploy with such insoucience and self-confidence.  I can say with serene confidence that you will enjoy it more than watching the Republican Nominating Convention.