Jonathan Barazzutti

Jonathan Barazzutti is a researcher and award-winning writer who is currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics at the University of Calgary.

From a young age, Barazzutti was fascinated by philosophy and the social sciences and developed an appreciation for the importance of knowledge in forging societal progress. Many political disagreements ultimately stem from a difference in belief about what the effects of particular policy decisions would be. This opens the door for empirical research to mediate disagreements that would not have been resolved otherwise, elevating the significance of attempts to study the world scientifically. In this pursuit, the answers to many questions about the world necessarily become murky, as they often require looking at aggregate information, which humans naturally have difficulty grappling with. Further complicating matters is the reality that tradeoffs exist with virtually all political systems and policy arrangements, which cannot be resolved through research, even if they can be better articulated with it.

While most debates that persist cannot be solely reduced to such factors, the fact that many debates consist of factual disagreements where tradeoffs can present themselves shows that many debates will be ambiguous in their answers. Because of this, Jonathan Barazzutti advocates for the promotion of academic institutions which prioritize empirical research in the social sciences and foster cultures which better promote the pursuit of truth. Cultural climates which promote truth in the social sciences include those that foster viewpoint diversity, open debate, academic freedom, and freedom of speech to the greatest extent possible.

In pursuing this line of thought, Barazzutti won the 2nd Annual Patricia Trottier and Gwyn Morgan Student Essay Contest, writing an article discussing ways to address the lack of diversity of political viewpoint within university social science departments across the Western world. He has also written extensively about other subjects, ranging from education, philosophy, psychology, economics, and more, in both his personal blog and elsewhere. His research has been featured in the STEM Fellowship Journal and the Philosophy, History, and Politics Undergraduate Conference at Thompson Rivers University. Outside of his writing, Barazzutti is a research assistant and has previously worked as a tutor and an intern for the Alberta Institute. In his free time, he enjoys reading, weightlifting, biking, running, and playing the piano.

Recognizing the problems that persist in contemporary academia, which oftentimes stifles research in favor of ideological conformity, Jonathan Barazzutti is committed to fostering alternative institutions which promote truth-seeking. He hopes that in the future, such institutions will flourish and eventually shape the future of thought.