Author: Graham Seth Moore Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 996 We sometimes use multiple names for the same person or thing without realizing it. Imagine an ancient astronomer sees a heavenly body in the evening and names it ‘Hesperus.’ They also see a heavenly body in the morning and name it ‘Phosphorus.’ … Continue reading Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words
Author: Thomas Metcalf Category: Metaphilosophy Word count: 1000 If you’ve ever wondered whether God exists, whether life has purpose, whether beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what makes actions right or wrong, or whether a law is fair or just, then you’ve thought about philosophy. And these are just a few philosophical topics. … Continue reading Philosophy
Author: Frederik Kaufman Categories: Ethics, Metaphysics, Historical Philosophy Word count: 987 Most people think dying would be bad for them and so they fear it. Is that fear rational? The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BCE) says no. He argues that death— as the permanent extinction of consciousness—is not bad, so we should not fear … Continue reading Is Death Bad? Epicurus and Lucretius on the Fear of Death
Author: Dale E. Miller Category: Ethics, Historical Philosophy Wordcount: 994 One important question in ethics is what makes people’s lives go well for them. Philosophers have proposed various theories about what things in and of themselves make people better off, i.e., theories of “well-being.” Many such theories say that pleasurable experiences are at least part of … Continue reading John Stuart Mill on The Good Life: Higher-Quality Pleasures
Author: Chelsea Haramia Category: Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics Word Count: 1000 Editor’s Note: This essay is the third in a three-part series on the topic of philosophical feminism. The first two parts, on the Sameness Approach to feminism and the Difference Approach to feminism, are by Annaleigh Curtis; this … Continue reading Feminism Part 3: The Dominance Approach
Thomas Metcalf Category: Epistemology Word count: 999 Many people think that they have a lot of knowledge. They also believe that other people sometimes know what they claim to know. But what is knowledge anyway? And how do we come to have it? Is it important that we have knowledge? If so, why? The branch … Continue reading Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge
Author: John Ramsey Categories: Epistemology, Historical Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Islamic Philosophy Word Count: 997 Right now you probably think that you are awake, that you are not asleep and dreaming. But do you know you aren’t dreaming? French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) famously asked a question like this at the beginning of his Meditations … Continue reading al-Ghazālī’s Dream Argument for Skepticism
Author: Huzeyfe Demirtas Categories: Epistemology, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Philosophy of Race, Logic and Reasoning Wordcount: 996 Suppose a jury rejects a Black defendant’s testimony because they believe that Black people are often untrustworthy. Or suppose the male members of a board reject a female colleague's suggestions because they … Continue reading Epistemic Injustice
Author: Thomas Metcalf Categories: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy Word count: 995 Your vote normally only has a very small chance of changing the outcome of any election for a public office.[1] For your vote to make that difference, thousands or millions of other votes would need to end up in a tie, which is … Continue reading Ethics and the Expected Consequences of Voting
Categories: Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Ethics Author: Travis Timmerman Word Count: 992 The Confederacy (1861-1865) consisted of eleven secessionist states that fought against the United States in the American Civil War in order to try to preserve slavery. Since the Civil War, Confederate monuments have been erected across America.[1] Confederate monuments were … Continue reading Removing Confederate Monuments
