Tag Archives: philosophy

Extremism In Thought Experiment Is No Vice

[content warning: description of fictional rape and torture.] Phil Robertson is being criticized for a thought experiment in which an atheist’s family is raped and murdered. On a talk show, he accused atheists of believing that there was no such … Continue reading

A Philosopher Walks Into A Coffee Shop

I have been really enjoying literarystarbucks.tumblr.com, which publishes complicated jokes about what famous authors and fictional characters order at Starbucks. I like it so much I wish I knew more great literature, so I could get more of the jokes. … Continue reading

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Why I Am Not Rene Descartes

I. Imagine that somebody wrote: Some of my friends support Ron Paul. I think that’s wrong. After all, he’s a libertarian, and Wikipedia says a libertarian is a person who believes in free will. But free will is impossible in … Continue reading

Book Review: Singer on Marx

I’m not embarassed for choosing Singer’s Marx: A Very Short Introduction as a jumping-off point for learning more leftist philosophy. I weighed the costs and benefits of reading primary sources versus summaries and commentaries, and decided in favor of the … Continue reading

What The Hell, Hegel?

I’m reading through Marx: A Very Short Introduction, and one of its best features is its focus on Marx’s influence from Hegel. Hegel is really interesting. I should rephrase that. Hegel is famously boring. His books are boring. His ideas … Continue reading

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The Invisible Nation – Reconciling Utilitarianism And Contractualism

[Attempt to derive morality from first principles, totally ignoring that this should be impossible. Based on economics and game theory, both of which I have only a minimal understanding of. And mixes complicated chains of argument with poetry without warning. … Continue reading

Misperceptions On Moloch

“Human values (‘Elua’) mean hedonism and free love and namby-pamby happiness, and I’m not on board with that.” (example) Are you a human? If so, congratulations. Your values are human values. As I wrote loooong ago in the Consequentialist FAQ: … Continue reading

Ground Morality In Party Politics

My name sounds a lot like Scott Aaronson’s and I get confused for him a lot. I try to encourage this confusion, since it can only increase people’s opinion of me. So let me propose a tool for investigating morality … Continue reading

You Kant Dismiss Universalizability

I. Like most right-thinking people, I’d always found Immanuel Kant kind of silly. He was the standard-bearer for naive deontology, the “rules are rules, so follow them even if they ruin everything” of moral philosophy. But lately, I’ve been starting … Continue reading

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Fermat’s Last Stand: Soundtrack and Adventure Log

Two years ago an impromptu role-playing group put on a very successful Dungeons and Discourse adventure, complete with several musical numbers. Last week, we completed our first sequel to that adventure, Fermat’s Last Stand. Below is the log and twelve … Continue reading