Project Voltaire

MRC has said that while he disagreed with Hussein's views he would
defend to the death Hussein's right to express them.  Various people
have expressed skepticism about this, supposing that there is no way
MRC's assertion could be tested, and therefore MRC's commitment is
meaningless.  It has long been my opinion that philosophy and social
science are too quick to condemn scientific theories as meaningless.
Just because you can't immediately figure out how a proposition can be
tested, it doesn't follow that no-one else can.

It seems to me that this hypothesis is testable, and the cost is
moderate.  It might be done for as little as the price of two one-way
fares to the Middle East and one round trip for the observer.  It seems
unlikely to me that Hussein's views on what behavior the Koran requires
can be compatible with the views dominant in Iran and and also with the
views dominant in Iraq.  Therefore, in one country or the other, MRC
would be able to fulfill his commitment, and Hussein could probably tell
us which.  If not, at slightly more expense, both could be tried and
also Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.  Indeed a suitable testing ground surely
can be reached by an inexpensive taxi journey from Beirut airport in one
direction or another.  In any case a travel agency could provide a
package tour of the Middle East with a provision for returning some of
the price when the tour was broken off part way through.

For the observer we need a social science graduate student or research
associate.  I am willing to be the nominal Principal Investigator under
my usual stipulation that someone else write the proposal and conduct
the actual negotiations with the funding agency.  These negotiations
shouldn't be too difficult, because foundations and other funding
agencies are all more receptive to proposals that provide for a
substantial part of the costs to be raised locally.  Judging from some
of the complaints we have heard over the years about certain BBOARD
postings, substantial local contributions can be expected, and I will be
happy to provide him or her, who undertakes to raise the money with a
list of prospective donors.  It occurs to me that if Lynn Bowman will
agree to be the observer, it might be possible to raise all the costs
locally.  Some churlish people may want to get by with three one way
tickets.  I believe that such local financing would meet the conditions
under which Stanford would forgo its usual overhead.