Are we better off giving up the myth of perfect rationality?
“There is more to be said for stupidity than people imagine. Personally I have great admiration for stupidity” – the sentiment behind Oscar Wilde’s...
Doctoral Student Orientation
For many years I attended my department’s opening week orientation for new doctoral students. While most arrived unsure or even apprehensive, all were eager...
Philosophy Goes to the Future: An Interview with K.K. Edin
The Measurements of Decay is K.K. Edin's debut novel. Described as both "a tortured love letter to philosophy and a space opera spanning centuries,"...
Michael Shermer on utilitarianism, deontology, and “natural rights”
You may have noticed that I don’t opine on quantum mechanics. Or jazz. The reason for this is that — although I’m very interested...
SOMA and I
The game “SOMA” is a first-person sci-fi horror game. I study philosophy of mind and cognitive science, so I was thrilled to find that...
Arrival, Interstellar, and the Transcendence of Temporality
If you haven’t seen Arrival or Interstellar, I’d advise you to stop reading immediately and go watch them. What I’m about to say will spoil the surprises...
The Variety of Good Lives
Suppose a person I shall call Leslie cares about others, treats them with respect, and seeks to minimize their distress. Leslie has also found...
MAP: The Power of Just Doing Philosophy
I started the Villanova chapter of Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) in the Spring term of 2017. Our chapter is just turning a year old,...
Epistemic Insouciance
The following is based on a paper called 'Epistemic Insouciance' that is due to be published in the Journal of Philosophical Research.
The Washington Post recently reported...
Humanities Advocacy Day ’18: An interview with Stephen Kidd and Beatrice Gurwitz
National Humanities Advocacy Day (HAD) took place on Tuesday, March 13 after a stimulating meeting of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) the day before....