Official Website for Amitabha Palmer
So, this meme has been floating around the intertubes for a couple of years. It popped up again in my feed. It’s such a great example of a poor argument. I’ve commented on it before, but not to the degree that you will soon experience. In the comments section, a friend and former roommate of […]
Read More Critical Thinking: Case Study on How to Lay the Smack DownDefining an ArgumentArgument: vas is das? For most of us when we hear the word ‘argument’ we think of something we’d rather avoid. As it is commonly understood, an argument involves some sort of unpleasant confrontation (well, maybe not always unpleasant–it can feel pretty good when you win!). While this is one notion of ‘argument,’ […]
Read More Critical Thinking: Defining an Argument, Premises, and ConclusionsIntroduction It seems every year I end up writing a post on how to get your fitness on. But there’s a prollem. All the fitness advice in the world doesn’t amount to a thang if’n it ain’t put into practix. So, in this year’s post I’m going to focus on what we know about psychology […]
Read More Annual Fitness Advice Post: Using Social Psychology to Your AdvantageVictim Impact Statements and Restorative Justice in a Retributivist World This is my term paper for a seminar on punishment and retribution. The seminar was the highlight of my MA program. Before reading, it will probably be helpful to go over the key concepts: Key Concepts:Victim Impact Statements (VIS): In a criminal trial, most states permit victims […]
Read More Victim Impact Statements and Restorative Justice in a Retributivist WorldMercy, Revenge, Victims’ Rights, and Restorative JusticePreamble:This is my proto-term paper for what has been a life-changing seminar I took this semester on retribution and punishment. The paper needs to be ‘academicized’ (sources cited, address objections in the literature, given a half-coherent organizational structure, etc..) but I wanted to get my thoughts out first. Also, […]
Read More Mercy, Revenge, Victims’ Rights, and Restorative JusticeThe Dualism of Practical Reason from “Some Fundamental Ethical Controversies” by Sidgwick IntroductionSometimes we are faced with decisions in which we must choose between our own good and the good of others. Of course, there are happy situations where the two converge, but the difficult moral situations are those in which the two interests do not […]
Read More The Dualism of Practical Reason: SidgwickSidgwick on Philosophical Intuitions (Book 3, Ch. 13)IntroYo, check it. Weez gonna learn about Sidgwick’s philosophical intuitions. Sidgwick (aka Jesus–in my opinion) had this idea that moral truths can be found in the “Common Sense” morality of the everyman. Well, not exactly. More precisely, he thought that if one could systematically analyze the common sense […]
Read More Sidgwick on Philosophical Moral IntuitionsMoore’s Criticism of Mill’s Proof of UtilitarianismOk, in the previous post we looked at Sidgwick’s criticisms of Mill’s proof of utilitarianism. As the title might suggest, we will now turn to Moore’s criticisms. For a more detailed explanation of Mill’s proof, check out the previous post. For this post I’ll just present Mill’s proof in its […]
Read More Moore’s Criticism of Mill’s Proof of UtilitarianismSidgwick’s Criticisms of Mill’s Proof of Utilitarianism Ok, apparently I can only write if it’s in my blog so, instead of staring at a blank screen trying to rewrite my paper, I’ll write down the basic ideas up in herr first.Here we will examine Sidgwick’s criticisms of Mill’s Proof of Utilitarianism. With that in mind, it […]
Read More Sidgwick’s Criticisms of Mill’s Proof of UtilitarianismSamir Okasha’s Darwinian Metaphysics: Species and the Question of Essentialism Key termsIntrinsic property: the necessary property/ies that make a thing what it is. Usually it is considered to be part of the things microstructure but not necessarily. E.g. An intrinsic property of a car is that it has 4 wheels and an engine. An […]
Read More Darwin, Metaphysics, and Natural Kinds: What is a Species?
Wrestling with Philosophy 