Ethics and Moral Philosophy Jack Smart has died 7 Oct 201211 Oct 2012 The Twitterverse is reporting that Jack (J. J. C.) Smart has died at the age of 92. Smart was a very influential philosopher who, although born in the UK, was regarded as an Australian materialist. Smart held that mind and brain are identical, along with another UK philosopher turned Australian,… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy I’d laugh if I didn’t think this was believed 15 Sep 201215 Sep 2012 Click through Continue Reading
Education Scientism and methodological naturalism 9 Sep 201210 Sep 2012 So I’ve been busy with work, and finding a flat and preparing to move. Larry’s been busy tearing strips off those who argue that the ENCODE data shows the genome is mostly functional (only if you think that doing anything happens to be functional). But I hadn’t forgotten his latest… Continue Reading
Chocosophy Xocolatl and the creation of the universe 28 Aug 201224 Nov 2022 Once upon a time, the great god Xocolatl was bored. The party was over, there was a mess in the divine mansion, and nothing was left besides savory snacks and stale beer. Now Xocolatl was a cool god, but he hated being bored and having to clean up after his hosts, so… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Urkkkh! 19 Aug 201219 Aug 2012 If words were water, I would be paddling hard up to my ears being nibbled by piranha as an alligator came for me. So I haven’t said much here for a while. There’s this paper, this book, this contract, this report and this tendency for me to post comments elsewhere…. Continue Reading
Chocosophy Chocolatarianism: the only rational foundation for ethics 9 Jul 20126 Feb 2013 A while back I revealed unto you all the verity that is Chocoholism. This introduced the metaphysics and epistemology of the Endarkenment. However I have become aware that I have not yet passed onto you the ethical component of Endarkenment: Chocolatarianism. In that post I said this: The moral principle… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Why eat meat? 6 May 20126 May 2012 A while back, the New York Times held a blog competition on justifications for eating meat, in 600 words or less. I submitted mine, but I bet it didn’t get far up the selection tree, as the winner is effectively a popular piece rather than a philosophical justification, and so… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Can an atheist have a code of ethics? 5 Dec 20115 Dec 2011 I posted this on Quora, but I thought I might put it here as well, and add a couple of things: A while back I gave a talk to a group of theologians on the question of Darwinian accidents. It had no ethics content. The first question I was asked… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Rise of the Planet of the Moralists 5: Social Dominance and Power 2 Nov 20112 Nov 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Moralists Series1: Introduction2: Chains and Trees 3: Clades and grades4: Predicting traits5: Social dominance and power Thus far we have focused on the differences between human beings and apes, and the ways we should expect to find each species behave. What do all apes… Continue Reading