Philosophy & Ethics

The Dark Side Of The Enlightenment

People who identify with the various versions of the skeptic / atheist / rationalist / freethinking movement(s) hold up the Enlightenment, the famous “Age of Reason,” to be the pinnacle of human civilization, as well as a model for future progress. ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Dec 30 2013 - 7:00am

Is There Such A Thing As Moral Expertise?

Is there such a thing as moral expertise? Good question, right? I’ve been thinking more about it for a few weeks now as a result of an interesting talk by Gopal Sreenivasan (Duke University) entitled “Moral expertise and the proto-authority of affect,” whi ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Jan 6 2014 - 6:30am

Medical Students Still Concerned About Desensitization To Dying Patients

The imminent death of a family member is riddled with emotions for family family members. The reasons are obvious.  But it's not just them.  ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 31 2013 - 2:23pm

Aitzaz, 14 Years, Hero

The 14 year old kid in the picture on the right was named Aitzaz Hasan Bangash. His name is a difficult one to remember for westerners, but that is a pity, because he ended his life as a true hero. Last Monday Aitzaz was lingering out of school with two fr ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Jan 10 2014 - 6:01am

Post-Affirmative Action: Racism Occurs Less Often In College Admissions

For decades, some minority students (blacks, Latinos, native Americans) were given preferential treatment in college admissions while other minorities (Asians) were penalized. This posed a legal and cultural dilemma. Stipulating that recruitment must occu ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 13 2014 - 7:04pm

Euthanasia: Families Support Terminal Sedation For Relatives In A Permanent Vegetative State

The families of some very severely brain injured patients believe that once all treatment options are exhausted, allowing their relatives to die with the help of terminal sedation would be a humane and compassionate option. The authors interviewed the fam ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 2 2014 - 2:20pm

Mathematical Universe? I Ain’t Convinced

So the other day Julia Galef and I had the pleasure of interviewing mathematical cosmologist Max Tegmark for the Rationally Speaking podcast. The episode will come out in late January, close to the release of Max’s book, presenting his Mathematical Univers ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Jan 16 2014 - 10:59am

The Undergraduate Atheists’ Thesis

I am not particularly friendly to the so-called New Atheism. ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Jan 21 2014 - 12:12pm

The Philosophy Of Suicide

In a forthcoming episode of the Rationally Speaking podcast, Julia and I discuss the philosophy and science of suicide, i.e. what empirical inquiry tells us about suicides (who commits them, how, what are the best strategies for prevention) and how philoso ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Jan 27 2014 - 6:04am

The “Meta” Itch

I used to have the “meta” itch, but I learned to live with it and stop scratching it. It only irritates anyway, without doing much good work. Let me explain. If you are a regular (or even occasional) reader of Rationally Speaking you know that we often pub ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Feb 3 2014 - 9:53am