Author: Chad Vance Category: Metaphysics Word Count: 1000 Could you have been an alligator? Or a roller skate? Is there a possible scenario where you were never born as a human being, but where someone builds a roller skate, and you are that roller skate? Probably not. Most people think that you could not have … Continue reading Origin Essentialism: What Could Have Been Different about You?
Category: Metaphysics
Moral Error Theory: Are there Moral Facts?
According to the meta-ethical theory known as “error theory,” it is false that abusing children for fun is morally wrong (and false that it’s morally right, too!). This is because, according to error theory, all moral judgments are false. This essay explores this counterintuitive view.
Free Will and Free Choice
What is free will? Do we have it? This essay surveys the main three positions on these questions.
Because God Says So: On Divine Command Theory
An introduction to the "Divine Command Theory" of ethics.
The Non-Identity Problem
Author: Duncan Purves Category: Ethics, Metaphysics Word Count: 1000 Consider the following scenario: Wilma is interested in having a baby. Wilma’s doctor tells her that she has a condition such that if she conceives now, any child she conceives will suffer from incurable blindness. However, her doctor also tells her that this result is not unavoidable. If … Continue reading The Non-Identity Problem
Personal Identity: How We Exist Over Time
An introduction to the topic of personal identity: how do we continue to exist over time as the same being, despite the many changes that occur to us?