Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
"Libertarians might be wrong about what helps and what hurts. Maybe we’re mistaken in our policy prescriptions. But those mistakes, if they exist, aren’t because we 'care' less than liberals"
![the fact factory [website link] by the|G|â„¢](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2530/4448091128_3d45426934_s.jpg "the fact factory [website link] by the|G|â„¢")
Thought-provoking consideration of nature of facts. What do we mean by a "fact"? Does a fact refer to something that actually exists? Is Occam’s razor a sharp or blunt tool to use, when arguing that facts do not exist?
Addiction assessed via philosophy. "For Socrates, ‘yielding to temptation’ is not being unwillingly overpowered, but is the experience of being a willing participant choosing what is at that moment wrongly thought to be best"
On the ethical problems of climate change. Should the well-being of future generations take precedence over our own? Are we responsible for the excesses of past generations? All over the world, or just our own compatriots?
Conversation with philosopher Michael Lynch. "I think that giving up on objective truth is giving in to those who would like to convince us that there is no difference between what is right and what they say is right"
Oxford University professor on nature of logic. "If the idea of information as ruling out possibilities can’t handle the informativeness of logic, that is a problem for that idea of information, not for the informativeness of logic"
You can't fault the Chronicle for not asking the big questions. The answer? Prospect of dying is unpleasant for most people. Process of dying is rarely much fun. Beyond that, it's just the opportunity cost of not being alive
"When we try to subsume the practical domain of morality into moral theory by clearly defining the principles that count and binding them together in certain fixed constellations, we excise a great deal of actual moral life"
Plato claimed in The Republic that an ideal city could only be run by a perfectly enlightened ruler, a philosopher-king. It's not a concept that finds much favour nowadays. But, with a subtle twist, the idea could still prove useful
Grayling comments on Michael Sandel's new book, which explores corrosive effects of assigning a price to everything. Where should we draw the line between the marketable and the unmarketable? What things should remain priceless?
"Philosophy is what you can't help doing when you're trying to kill philosophy. I'm therefore inclined to propose an extremely immodest thesis: Putnam's Gambit establishes the ultimate authority of philosophy over all discourse"
Revisiting ethics of torture. And with it Koppl’s framework for understanding epistemic systems. Is there a convincing argument to level against those who defend torture in extreme circumstances? Yes, here it is. (Part one of two)
Wikimedia Commons. The Golden Age by Lucas Cranach the Elder
"Behaving morally in the moment has little to do with sympathy and a lot to do with one's immoral options simply not coming to mind"
