Category Archives: uncategorized

Ted Nordhaus’ disappointing essay in Aeon Ideas provides encouragement to those who would deny the need to end human population growth. Of course Earth’s carrying capacity is not fixed, but regardless of what future technology may bring, it will always … Continue reading →

In The Naturalistic Case for Free Will: The Challenge, Christian List opens a series of posts at The Brains Blog discussing some key ideas from his book ‘Why Free Will is Real’ (Harvard University Press, 2019). But if Free Will is … Continue reading →

Well in fact about 85% of it is just burned as fuel. But according to the Daily Caller website, “A mere 46 percent of oil is used to make gasoline, while the rest goes to help make a variety of … Continue reading →

I’m sorry, but this article just adds to my impression that Feynman, Weinberg, and Hawking are right about the usefulness of philosophy in science. So far as I can tell, none of the “theories” discussed in it has any real … Continue reading →

Philisopher David Papineau argues in a recent Aeon Essay that the idea of knowledge as rigorously justified true belief is “a crude concept we have inherited from our prehistoric ancestors, and it positively handicaps us in our dealings with the modern … Continue reading →

Do philosophers ever think before they write? Massimo Pigliucci claims that Feynman is “often quoted” as saying: ‘You can recognise truth by its beauty and simplicity,’ and then uses this claim as the basis for an attack on Feynman’s understanding … Continue reading →

The clackety-clack of a train on the track is beating a rhythm that carries us back to a time in the cave when our yackety-yak and the chipping of stones and the crackle of fire and the patter of rain … Continue reading →

According to Nicholas Maxwell in Bring back science and philosophy as natural philosophy | Aeon Essays: Far from being yet another specialised discipline, distinct from and alongside other specialised disciplines, as so much academic philosophy strives to be today, philosophy, … Continue reading →

The Atlantic and Julie Irwin Zimmerman are to be commended for the article in which she explores with admirable humility her reactions to the recent “confrontation” at the Lincoln memorial. I also appreciated the wider analysis by Ian Bogost on the dangers … Continue reading →

Stephen Cahn, at Blog of the APA, rejects what he calls ‘Two Ancient and Unpersuasive Arguments about Death‘. But it is not clear to me that he is interpreting the claims correctly. The word “death”, like many other words in … Continue reading →

Reading this makes me want to just stick my head in the sand Source: Viktor Orbán and the Anti-Semitic Figyelő Cover – The Atlantic

Donald Trump’s use of the case against Meng Wanzhou as a bargaining chip (aka hostage-taking or blackmail) in trade negotiations with China is a clear indication that the extradition request was not made in good faith based on the belief … Continue reading →

Taxes For the Common Good? For as long as humans have lived as pack animals with a dominance hierarchy, taxes have always been a part of human life. Those who are seen as the leaders of the pack, tribe, nation, … Continue reading →

News Flash for Philosophers: It is NOT true that “The modern idea that nature is discrete originated in Ancient Greek atomism”. On the contrary, (to the very limited extent that it is a thing at all) it originates as a hypothesis … Continue reading →

It is bizarre to see a professor of Philosophy discussing whether or not we have the “right to believe” (either pro or con) without addressing the question of whether or not the concept is even coherent – especially since, so … Continue reading →

This is as obscene as if a refugee claiming to have converted to Christianity were denied on the basis of being unable to answer questions about transubstantiation from the Catholic catechism! Who the fuck does that twit at the Home … Continue reading →

Anna Alexandrova in a series of posts at The Brains Blog about her new book ‘A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being’ does what philosophers *should* be doing! Thinking carefully about whether the terms they throw about have any real meaning – and looking … Continue reading →

On reading: What Do Philosophers Do? Skepticism and the Practice of Philosophy // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame it was not long before I came to this: A ‘brain in a vat’ (BIV) is … Continue reading →

I sympathise with the need of academic philosophers to promote their business, but am often annoyed by their claim that everyone needs their services. I don’t think that is true and I think we would all be better served if they based … Continue reading →

There are many kinds of pleasure and pain, and pleasure in one dimension of experience may well entail pain in another. Also, sometimes present pain must be suffered in order to ensure an expectation of even greater future pleasure. It … Continue reading →