The Empirical Paradox

A Response to Noah Smith on the New Right

This is, after all, a philosophy blog.

Noah Smith

's recent essay “Understanding America's New Right” represents a significant evolution in his analytical approach. His opening declaration that “you can't really understand policymaking without ideology” signals a shift from his typically empirics-focused analysis toward grappling with the interpretive frameworks that shape political reality.

This shift deserves recognition and respect. Smith's economic analysis has consistently illuminated complex issues with clarity and empirical rigor, and his willingness to engage with ideological frameworks expands his already valuable analytical toolkit. Yet his approach reveals what I'll call the empirical paradox—a tension that emerges when one acknowledges the importance of ideology while attempting to maintain a stance of detached empiricism.

Two plus two equals four. There are twenty-four hours in a day. And even the most rigorous empirical analysis faces a fundamental challenge when it treats ideology as merely an object of study rather than a context of meaning that also shapes the analysis itself.