Author: Jamie Carlin Watson Category: Epistemology, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Wordcount: 989 Want to improve your golf or tennis game? Take lessons from a local “pro.” Got an obscure medical problem? See a specialist. Nasty divorce? Hire a good lawyer. In short, if you’ve got a hard question or problem, you should seek the guidance … Continue reading Expertise
Authors: Michael Milona & Katie Stockdale Categories: Ethics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Religion, Social & Political Philosophy Word Count: 994 Hope is ubiquitous: family members express hope that we find love and happiness, politicians call for hope in response to tragedies, and optimists urge people to keep their hopes up. We also tell ourselves to maintain hope, … Continue reading Hope
Author: Marc Bobro Categories: Historical Philosophy, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Language, Philosophy of Religion Word Count: 999 Editor’s Note: This essay is the second in a two-part series on Descartes’ Meditations. The first essay is here. 4. Meditation 4: The Source of Human Error Descartes argued in Meditation 3 that since God exists, … Continue reading Descartes’ Meditations 4-6
Author: Marc Bobro Categories: Historical Philosophy, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Language, Philosophy of Religion Word Count: 998 Editor’s Note: This essay is the first in a two-part series on Descartes’ Meditations. The second essay is here. In an era of great debate over the fundamental facts of nature—e.g., about the Earth’s place in … Continue reading Descartes’ Meditations 1-3
Author: Thomas Metcalf Categories: Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Logic and Reasoning Word count: 996 Consider this exchange from the 1994 American film Dumb and Dumber: Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together? … Mary: Not good. Lloyd: You mean, not good like … Continue reading Interpretations of Probability
Author: Jonathan Matheson Category: Epistemology Word Count: 998 People tend to care deeply about their political, religious, ethical, and philosophical beliefs. For many of these beliefs, however, you know of people who disagree with you and are roughly as intelligent, informed, and open-minded as you are. How should you respond when you recognize this fact? Should … Continue reading The Epistemology of Disagreement
Author: Bob Fischer Categories: Epistemology, Metaphysics Word Count: 998 Alice hits Betty, and Betty gets mad. Is her anger justified? Betty thinks so. After all, Alice didn’t need to hit her; Alice could have controlled her temper. This justification for Betty’s anger seems reasonable. However, it isn’t reasonable unless we know that Alice could have behaved differently, and we don’t know that … Continue reading Modal Epistemology: Knowledge of Possibility & Necessity
Author: Addison Ellis Category: Historical Philosophy, Epistemology Word Count: 1000 Editor’s Note: This essay is the second of three in a series authored by Addison on the topic of philosophical idealism. Part 1 on Berkeley's Subjective Idealism can be read here. In the 18th Century, what has become known as the empiricist picture of knowledge took the mind to have … Continue reading Idealism Pt. 2: Kant’s Transcendental Idealism
Author: Addison Ellis Category: Historical Philosophy, Metaphysics, Epistemology Word Count: 1000 Editor’s Note: This essay is the first of three in a series authored by Addison on the topic of philosophical idealism. Part 2 on Kant's Transcendental Idealism can be read here. We often take it for granted that we have some knowledge about the way reality is. For instance, … Continue reading Idealism Pt. 1: Berkeley’s Subjective Idealism
Author: Kenneth Blake Vernon Category: Philosophy of Science, Epistemology, Logic and Reasoning Word Count: 1000 1. Aulë’s Artifacts Suppose you are an ethnographer newly arrived in Middle Earth, making land on the western shore, at the Gray Havens. You follow the East Road, traveling over the Misty Mountains and through the Mirkwood, eventually reaching Erebor, … Continue reading The Problem of Induction
