Epistemology Can one do philosophy of religion? 6 Jan 20114 Oct 2017 A while back, philosopher of religion Keith Parsons (Houston, Clear Lake) announced that he could no longer do philosophy of religion because I have to confess that I now regard “the case for theism” as a fraud and I can no longer take it seriously enough to present it to… Continue Reading
Biology On abortion 9 Nov 2010 A fertilised fetus is a collection of cells that will, if all goes well, and it doesn’t in a large percentage of cases, become a baby. As much as 70% of all pregnancies may abort in the first 20 weeks, due to genetic or developmental defects. But up until a… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Never let an Epicurean into a conservation conference 5 Oct 2010 Continue Reading
Epistemology 3QD Philosophy prize 4 Sep 2010 The 3QuarksDaily website is running its second Prize in Philosophy which has a convenient wrap up of some good philosophy posts. Most of them, though, are your usual deep ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, which is too deep for the likes of me. Still, you may find them worth reading and… Continue Reading
Epistemology A quote on the ethics of belief 31 Aug 2010 Sometimes philosophers nail it. This from James McGrath: And no one man’s belief is in any case a private matter which concerns himself alone. Our lives are guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by society for social purposes. Our words, our phrases,… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Kinds of free will 29 Jul 2010 Jonah Lehrer points to a post by philosopher Galen Strawson at the NYT blog on the nonexistence of free will. Strawson’s argument is basically that actions are performed for (causal) reasons that are outside our control, and so we have no free will. I agree that our actions are performed… Continue Reading
Administrative #SBFail 21 Jul 2010 The title is the Twitter hashtag for the ongoing implosion at Scienceblogs. Now several more have left the building, PZ is on strike (and so Twittering up a storm), others are thinking about it, and people are making snide satires at rival networks. My friend Mike Dunford has left, which… Continue Reading
Academe Herding cats, ethically 20 Jul 2010 There is a famous ad on Youtube in which cat wranglers herd cats to a final destination (for slaughtering? really?) as a metaphor for providing IT services. What is underpinning that humor is that domestic cats are not, typically, herd animals. They do not get along in large groups, although… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy A thought 26 Jun 2010 Things and actions are what they are, and consequences of them will be what they will be: why then should we desire to be deceived? [Bishop Joseph Butler, Fifteen Sermons, Sermon VII, §16.] Continue Reading
Education Ruminations in Oxford 19 May 2010 The conference proceeds apace. I have met some very nice and interesting people: Pat Churchland, Owen Flanagan, Ara Norenzayan, whose paper I ineffectually commented upon, Robin Dunbar, Walter Sinnot-Armstrong, Tony Coady, Janet Radcliffe-Richards, and a number of people who I previously knew but am pleased to reacquaint myself with. One… Continue Reading