Philosophy & Ethics

Sex Change And Corn Flakes Stress The Review Board

Years back, conversing with a now long-retired dean, I happened to let slip the words “common sense.” He replied, “It’s been a long time since I heard that phrase uttered on this campus, much less seen it practiced.” He had a point. ...

Article - Fred Phillips - Aug 27 2009 - 2:03pm

Null Hypothesis And The Logic Of Skepticism

Being a skeptic is a rather lonely art. People often confuse you for a cynic, and I’m not using either term in the classical philosophical sense, of course. ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Sep 4 2009 - 10:22am

Free Will: The Meaning Of Choice

It is obvious that life is filled with choices and we often go to great lengths to explore different possible outcomes or scenarios when attempting to make decisions.  However what is choice and how does it relate to free will? It would seem that choices m ...

Article - Gerhard Adam - Sep 5 2009 - 2:02pm

The Resurrection Of Metaphysics?

The other day I went to a talk about the fall and revival of metaphysics, given by Sebastian Kolodziejczyk at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Metaphysics these days has a bad reputation, even among philosophers, so I was aware of i ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Sep 10 2009 - 2:58pm

Why So Much Pain And Suffering In The World?

Mother Teresa said, “Suffering is a gift of God.” Well, it may be true that suffering tends to build character, but it also sometimes builds bitterness and criminals. In any case, we would naturally prefer to do without it, especially the extreme forms of ...

Article - Fred Pauser - Sep 12 2009 - 11:45am

Animal Rights Activists Hurt Science And Aren't All That Great For Animals Either

There have been increasingly violent attacks against scientists by animal rights activists in the last few years and partisan groups that can recite the name of every abortion provider killed by extreme pro-life people haven't taken much of a stand a ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 15 2009 - 6:53pm

Why Is Stanley Fish Against Curiosity?

Readers of this blog may begin to think that I have a personal antipathy for New York Times editorialist Stanley Fish. I don’t, really. Don’t even know the guy. And yet, somehow he manages to get criticized in writing by yours truly more often (and certai ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Sep 16 2009 - 1:24pm

Shifting Paradigms in War

Discussion Questions from class: 1) Realists argue that states are the principal actor in the international system. Is that as true today as it was in earlier times? Why or why not? 2)Do you agree that the security of the state is/ should be the driving fo ...

Blog Post - Sina Kashefipour - Sep 16 2009 - 10:58pm

Law And Science: The Injustice Of Confessions

Law And Science: The Injustice Of Confessions Confession may be good for the soul, but it is, I submit, positively harmful to the establishment of scientific truth in any legal venue.  It is a notorious fact that some people will confess to crimes which t ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Sep 19 2009 - 4:59pm

Law and Science: #2 The Chicken Little Mentality

Law and Science: #2 The Chicken Little Mentality Fiat Justicia, Ruat Caelum Fiat justicia ruat caelum is often expressed as: 'let justice triumph or else the sky will fall'.  It may be more literally translated as 'let justice triumph: let ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Sep 19 2009 - 4:47pm