Philosophy, et cetera

Philosophers are sometimes prone to excessive skepticism , especially in the face of persisting disagreement. People often seem really bothe...

It's worth distinguishing two very different ways of presenting an objection, and the two associated dialectical roles that an objection...

People often assume that there's a basic difference in philosophical-methodological temperament between (say) utilitarians and "co...

Robin Hanson (sensibly) finds it bizarre that asymmetry -based anti-natalism is taken at all seriously: " I mean, really, the whole hum...

It generally seems illegitimate to infer empirical conclusions from moral premises -- imagine, for example, a utilitarian inferring that ki...

In 'Why Disallowing State-Given Reasons for Belief Might Be the End of the World', Andrew Reisner argues that "theorists who d...

Ross Cameron asks a great question: what distinguishes legitimate from illegitimate appeals to the claim that "metaphysical priority i...

Consider what preferences you have over unseen outcomes. (For example, are you indifferent to the idea of your corpse being secretly donated...

A recent discussion of wellbeing over at Go Grue reminded me of how easily philosophical debates can degenerate into mere terminological di...

I find it interesting to learn new philosophical 'moves' or strategies that can be applied in a range of circumstances. Examples I...

I've previously noted that some of the deepest philosophical disagreements are traceable to differing assumptions about what needs to b...

Kenny Pearce has an interesting post contrasting Locke's and Berkeley's diverging approaches to common sense: Locke's goal, it ...

When a Skeptic claims that something (e.g. knowledge, free will) does not exist, a tempting response is to point to the world, and say, ...

Haidt and Bjorklund ('Social Intuitionists Answer Six Questions about Moral Psychology') suggest a model ('SIM') according t...

Sometimes, when reading a blog, you may get the feeling that the blogger's posts are infused by a fundamentally misguided assumption. Bu...

Now that I think of it, a better way to make my point may be to replace talk of 'all or nothing' belief with credences or degrees ...

What does it take to be a good (or at least rationally respectable) argument? Consider the 'zombie argument' against materialism I ...

Some people judge that homosexuality is immoral, because they find it intuitively repugnant . They must also be aware that a few short decad...

Adam Rawlings has an interesting post complaining that common philosophical thought experiments are "hopelessly question-begging"...

I've recently lamented how logical formalisms and inductive meta-arguments risk being misused as substitutes for careful thought. It...