“If the growth of reason is to continue, and human rationality to survive, then the diversity of individuals and their opinions, aims, and purposes must never be interfered with …. Even the emotionally satisfying appeal for a common purpose, however excellent, is an appeal to abandon all rival moral opinions and the cross-criticisms and arguments […]
Karl Popper on diversity of opinion and values [quotation] Read More »
Note to self: To avoid offense or appropriation this holiday season: For the Christians I won’t say Merry Christmas and for the the Jews I won’t say Happy Hanukkah, as I am neither Christian nor Jew. Ditto for Yule and Kwanzaa, as I am neither pagan nor out of Africa (unless one goes way, way
The silent holiday season — or else Read More »
[Every few years I post an updated version of student bloopers from exams and essays.] A Brief History of Philosophy Humor alert: Being a compilation of student research collected over the years, gently edited by Stephen Hicks, Rockford University (updated: December 2016). Is philosophy a waist of time? Ethical debates have been around for a
An Alternate History of Philosophy — Student edition (2016) Read More »
Via the Library of Social Science a fascinating essay by anthropologist Carol Delaney (professor emerita, Stanford University), “Sacrificial Heroics: The Story of Abraham and its Use in the Justification of War” (pdf), which is an extended meditation on the meaning of Abraham’s willingness to kill his son because God asked. Delaney argues: The story has
Sacrificing sons — justifying war in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Read More »
Here are Mark Michael Lewis and I in conversation about applied philosophy. A rough guide to the topics: 1. Why you should always take arguments at their best [10:15 minutes] 2. Why many philosophers are “left” [16:00] 3. How Objectivism is an “outlier” philosophy [19:00] 4. Third-generation postmodernism and the weaponry of affirmative action [25:00]
Making Work Beautiful, and more — Interviewed by Mark Michael Lewis Read More »
[From lecture notes for Immanuel Kant’s 1775-1780 courses as published in Lectures on Ethics [1775-1780], translated by Louis Infield, New York: Harper and Row, 1963, pp. 162-168. The text is below and here as PDF.] Duties towards the Body in Respect of Sexual Impulse Amongst our inclinations there is one which is directed towards other
Kant on sex, marriage, concubines, prostitutes, and incest [text] Read More »
Higher education can be a path to a successful life. Yet many successful people did not graduate from college — and many unsuccessful people have impressive degrees. So who should go to college? And who should pay for it? Let’s start by imagining an average student who wants to go to college but has no
Free College Tuition Is a Moral Issue [Good Life series] Read More »
Socialists standardly blame capitalist exploitation for the miseries of the poor. But then we consider Cuba’s dismal economic performance, which most blame on dictator Castro’s socialism. Not true!, say socialist defenders of Castro. Instead, we should blame it on the Americans and their decades-long economic boycott. So — just so that we’re all clear about
Cuba and the American economic boycott Read More »