An introduction to the philosophy of pain: is pain physical or mental? What is the role of the pain system? And, is pain always unpleasant? These questions are the focus of this essay.
Category: Ethics
Robert Nozick’s “Wilt Chamberlain” Argument for Libertarianism
Nozick thinks that a story about the basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain shows why the government should not take from the rich to help everyone else. This article explains Nozick’s argument which he uses to support “libertarianism,” his view that the government’s role is not to redistribute wealth but to promote liberty.
Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Society, and the Environment
This essay introduces some of the most urgent moral and societal issues related to Artificial Intelligence.
Moral Education: Teaching Students to Become Better People
What are the proper moral education, and how should those goals be pursued? Theories of moral education try to answer that question: they provide ideas about how we can, and should, try to teach morality and shape students into morally better people. This essay introduces some of the most influential theories.
Seemings: Justifying Beliefs Based on How Things Seem
We often have something like a sense or feeling that something is true. Many philosophers believe that there’s a type of mental attitude that is connected to such feelings, called a seeming. This essay reviews some important philosophical issues about seemings.
On Karl Marx’s Slogan “From Each According to their Ability, To Each According to their Need”
The slogan “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs” is one of German philosopher Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) few explicit descriptions of communism. This essay describes the origins of the slogan and its meaning.
Philosophy as a Way of Life
This essay introduces the Philosophy as a Way of Life approach to philosophy and offers examples of what it can look like to live philosophically in the present day.
Ancient Cynicism: Rejecting Civilization and Returning to Nature
For Diogenes and the Cynics, philosophy was not about conjuring hypothetical scenarios or pondering ancient mysteries. Rather, Cynics argued that philosophy studies the lives of actual people and teaches us to live well and prepares us for any fortune. And it does so through training both the body and mind to live as simply as possible. This essay summarizes the main values in ancient Cynicism, especially those present in the life of Diogenes of Sinope.
W.D. Ross’s Ethics of “Prima Facie” Duties
W.D. Ross believed that there are multiple fundamental moral principles. He called them "prima facie" duties. This essay introduces Ross’s theory, which is often called intuitionism.
Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend?
What is it to be a friend, especially a good friend? Aristotle’s claims about friendship began debates that continue today. This essay presents his views on friendship and a contemporary debate he inspired.