Fabian Tassano

Last updated

Fabian Michael Wadel (born 18 May 1963), known professionally as Fabian Tassano, is an economist and author, known for his radical views on the medical profession, and for his critique of ideological aspects of modern culture.

Contents

Biography

Tassano was born in Munich to German parents. He changed his original family name of Wadel to Tassano on the marriage of his mother to Michael Tassano, a Major in the British Army. He has lived in the United Kingdom as a British citizen since 1973. In 2003, his mother's marriage to Michael Tassano having been annulled, he formally reverted to the surname Wadel, while maintaining the name Fabian Tassano for publications. [1]

Tassano studied Natural Sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge, specialising in Physics and Philosophy of Science. He graduated with a First in 1984, winning the Bronowski Prize. [2]

In 1991 he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, having trained first at Grant Thornton and subsequently at KPMG Peat Marwick. He came tenth nationally in the Institute of Chartered Accountants' qualifying exam. He also qualified as a chartered tax accountant with the Institute of Taxation. [3]

From 1992 to 2000 he was first a postgraduate student, and subsequently college lecturer in economics, at the University of Oxford. He carried out research on vertical integration policy in the UK and Germany, [4] and on the economic effects of vertical mergers, for which he was awarded a doctorate by Oxford in 1998. [5]

From 1994 to 2000 he held College Lecturerships in Economics, successively at Jesus College, Balliol College, St. Peter's College and Pembroke College.

From 2000 to 2002 he was a senior economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, working on transfer pricing policy. [6]

He is currently a Research Director at Oxford Forum, where he collaborates with Celia Green and Charles McCreery. [7]

Books

In 1995 Tassano published The Power of Life or Death: Medical Coercion and the Euthanasia Debate. [8] The book had a Foreword by Thomas Szasz, an American psychiatrist known for his libertarian views on mental illness, and was described by the philosopher Antony Flew as 'intellectually first-class'. [9] The Power of Life or Death attempts to bring free-market and libertarian philosophical ideas into the medical ethics debate, in particular in relation to the treatment of the terminally ill, and examines the ideological subtext of the medical ethics literature, which Tassano argues often gives greater weight to collective interests than to the preferences of individual patients. Despite its radical approach the book received serious, if guarded attention from the medical profession, the British Medical Journal , for example, commenting: 'We would not recommend this book as comfortable bedtime reading. ... If you like an intellectual challenge this one is for you.' [10] The book was also reviewed in Nature, which commented, 'His view goes straight to the medical jugular', [11] and the Literary Review , according to which 'Tassano presents hair-raising case studies [...] his book is a timely polemic.' [12] The book was shortlisted for the Skrabanek Prize.

Tassano analyses the ideological content of modern culture in general in Mediocracy: Inversions and Deceptions in an Egalitarian Culture (2006), characterized by Patrick Minford as a book that 'delightfully dissects the language of modern egalitarianism and political correctness'. [13] The book argues that both ‘dumbing down’ in the popular media, and the obscurantism prevalent in academic discourse, are manifestations of the same underlying ideology: one which appears egalitarian but in reality is designed to privilege a paternalistic elite and exclude those who might criticise it. Mediocracy received favourable reviews from a number of online commentators. Johnathan Pearce of the libertarian website Samizdata called it 'a rather fine book'. [14] Curtis Yarvin described it as 'a comprehensive and witty dictionary'. [15]

In 2019 Tassano published a collection of essays entitled The Ideology of the Elites. [16]

Other selected publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Rothbard</span> American economist (1926–1995)

Murray Newton Rothbard was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement, particularly its right-wing strands, and was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.

Anti-psychiatry, sometimes spelled antipsychiatry without the hyphen, is a movement based on the view that psychiatric treatment is often more damaging than helpful to patients, highlighting controversies about psychiatry. Objections include the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis, the questionable effectiveness and harm associated with psychiatric medications, the failure of psychiatry to demonstrate any disease treatment mechanism for psychiatric medication effects, and legal concerns about equal human rights and civil freedom being nullified by the presence of diagnosis. Historical critiques of psychiatry came to light after focus on the extreme harms associated with electroconvulsive therapy or insulin shock therapy. The term "anti-psychiatry" is in dispute and often used to dismiss all critics of psychiatry, many of whom agree that a specialized role of helper for people in emotional distress may at times be appropriate, and allow for individual choice around treatment decisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Szasz</span> Hungarian-American psychiatrist and activist (1920–2012)

Thomas Stephen Szasz was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. A distinguished lifetime fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a life member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, he was best known as a social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, as what he saw as the social control aims of medicine in modern society, as well as scientism.

The Political Compass is a website soliciting responses to a set of 62 propositions in order to rate political ideology in a spectrum with two axes: one about economic policy (left–right) and another about social policy (authoritarian–libertarian).

<i>The Myth of Mental Illness</i> 1961 book by Thomas Szasz

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct is a 1961 book by the psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, in which the author criticizes psychiatry and argues against the concept of mental illness. It received much publicity, and has become a classic, well known as an argument that "mentally ill" is a label which psychiatrists have used against people "disabled by living" rather than truly having a disease.

A land ethic is a philosophy or theoretical framework about how, ethically, humans should regard the land. The term was coined by Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) in his A Sand County Almanac (1949), a classic text of the environmental movement. There he argues that there is a critical need for a "new ethic", an "ethic dealing with human's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it".

Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and thus become the subject of medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Medicalization can be driven by new evidence or hypotheses about conditions; by changing social attitudes or economic considerations; or by the development of new medications or treatments.

Criticism of libertarianism includes ethical, economic, environmental and pragmatic concerns. With right-libertarianism, critics have argued that laissez-faire capitalism does not necessarily produce the best or most efficient outcome, and that libertarianism's philosophy of individualism and policies of deregulation fail to prevent the abuse of natural resources. Criticism of left-libertarianism is instead mainly related to anarchism. Left and right-libertarians also engage in criticism of each other.

Conservatism in the United States is based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative and Christian media organizations and American conservative figures are influential, and American conservatism is a large and mainstream ideology in the Republican Party and nation. As of 2021, 36 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, according to polling by Gallup, Inc.

Left-libertarianism, also known as left-wing libertarianism, or social libertarianism, is a political philosophy and type of libertarianism that stresses both individual freedom and social equality. Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to political and social theory. Its classical usage refers to anti-authoritarian varieties of left-wing politics such as anarchism, especially social anarchism, communalism, and libertarian Marxism, collectively termed libertarian socialism. A portion of the left wing of the green movement, including adherents of Murray Bookchin's social ecology, are also generally considered left-libertarian.

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, emphasizing equality before the law and civil rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of choice. Libertarians are often skeptical of or opposed to authority, state power, warfare, militarism and nationalism, but some libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing economic and political systems. Various schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and private power. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish various forms of Libertarianism. Scholars distinguish libertarian views on the nature of property and capital, usually along left–right or socialist–capitalist lines. Libertarians of various schools were influenced by liberal ideas.

Right-libertarianism, also known as libertarian capitalism, or right-wing libertarianism, is a libertarian political philosophy that supports capitalist property rights and defends market distribution of natural resources and private property. The term right-libertarianism is used to distinguish this class of views on the nature of property and capital from left-libertarianism, a type of libertarianism that combines self-ownership with an egalitarian approach to property and income. In contrast to socialist libertarianism, right-libertarianism supports free-market capitalism. Like most forms of libertarianism, it supports civil liberties, especially natural law, negative rights, the non-aggression principle, and a major reversal of the modern welfare state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Clement-Jones, Baron Clement-Jones</span> British politician (born 1949)

Timothy Francis Clement-Jones, Baron Clement-Jones, is a Liberal Democrat peer and spokesman for the digital economy in the House of Lords.

Michel Clouscard was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist. An opponent of capitalism, a critic of the evolution of ideas of progress confronted with the liberal mutations of the end of the 20th century, his work is linked to the thought of Rousseau, Hegel and Marx, whose links and unity he shows. He is known to have philosophically shown the collusion between capitalism and the French theory, represented by Lévi-Strauss and Deleuze, constructing his own concept of neo-Kantianism. He developed a philosophical research around the idea of social contract, postulating that "the constitutive principle of any society is the relation between production and consumption".

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Politics consists of "social relations involving authority or power. The definition of "politics" from "The Free Dictionary" is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power. Politics study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behavior, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.

Ronald Hamowy was a Canadian academic, known primarily for his contributions to political and social academic fields. At the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of intellectual history at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Hamowy was closely associated with the political ideology of libertarianism and his writings and scholarship place particular emphasis on individual liberty and the limits of state action in a free society. He is associated with a number of prominent American libertarian organizations.

State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition from the capitalist to the socialist mode of production or to a communist society. State socialism was first theorised by Ferdinand Lassalle. It advocates a planned economy controlled by the state in which all industries and natural resources are state-owned.

The Dark Enlightenment, also called the neo-reactionary movement, is an anti-democratic, anti-egalitarian, reactionary philosophical and political movement. The term "Dark Enlightenment" is a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment and apologia for the public view of the "Dark Ages".

Mediacracy is a situation in government where the mass media effectively has control over the voting public. Mediacracy is closely related to a theory on the role of media in the United States political system, that argues that media and news outlets have a large level of influence over voting citizens' evaluations of candidates and political issues, thereby possessing effective control over politics in the United States.

Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology. Specific topics include space migration, and cryogenic suspension. It is considered the opposing ideal to the concept of bioconservatism, as Transhumanist politics argue for the use of all technology to enhance human individuals.

References

  1. ↑ "Fabian Tassano".
  2. ↑ "Bronowski Prize". 8 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Chartered Institute of Taxation". Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Tassano, F., Appraising the Regulation of Vertical Mergers: Policy in the UK and Germany. MPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1994.[ page needed ]
  5. ↑ Tassano, F.,Upstream Competition and Vertical Integration. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1998.[ page needed ]
  6. ↑ "Transfer pricing".
  7. ↑ "Oxford Forum".
  8. ↑ Tassano, F., The Power of Life or Death: a Critique of Medical Tyranny, Foreword by Thomas Szasz. London: Duckworth, 1995.[ page needed ]
  9. ↑ Tassano, F., Mediocracy: Inversions and Deceptions in an Egalitarian Culture, Oxford: Oxford Forum, 2006, preliminary pages.
  10. ↑ Freudenstein, U (1996). "The Power of Life or Death: A Critique of Medical Tyranny". BMJ. 312 (7025): 258. doi:10.1136/bmj.312.7025.258. S2CID   72220651.
  11. ↑ Galloway, John (1996). "Betrayers of trust?". Nature. 379 (6568): 784. Bibcode:1996Natur.379..784G. doi: 10.1038/379784a0 .
  12. ↑ Cristina Odone, 'Doctors then and now', Literary Review, February 1996.
  13. ↑ Tassano, F., Mediocracy: Inversions and Deceptions in an Egalitarian Culture, Oxford: Oxford Forum, 2006.
  14. ↑ Johnathan Pearce (24 April 2008). "Decline and fall in easy-to-follow steps". Samizdata . Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Mediocracy: definition, etiology and treatment". Unqualified Reservations . 8 September 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  16. ↑ Tassano, F., The Ideology of the Elites: Critical Essays, Oxford: Oxford Forum, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.