Official Website for Amitabha Palmer
Intro Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to my annual fitness post. Last year I wrote How to be Aristotle in the Gym, so this year I thought I’d try doing something similar with Epictetus. Epictetus is one of the 4 famous heads of the Stoic school (Zeno of Citium, Cleathes, and Chrysippus are the other […]
Read More How to Be Epictetus in the Gym and on the MatsThe American Dream IntroductionI’ve mentioned before that philosophers distinguish between lumpers and splitters. Splitters take a category of things, actions, concepts and show that there are important distinctions to be made within that category such that we should really see it as two (or more) distinct categories. For example, someone might argue that ‘motor vehicle’ […]
Read More Value and Gun RightsIntroductionA few months ago I bought an older house. I knew it would need a bit of work before I could rent it out. As is the case with any old house, it’s turned into even more work than I’d originally thought. Although not part of the original plan, I’ve had to rip out the […]
Read More Grinding and Loving: Two Approaches to Installing PlumbingIntroduction I always enjoy writing my annual fitness post. I’m frequently surprised by how much I learn about fitness each year even though I’ve basically been involved in it my whole life. Before we get started here are my past fitness posts for future reference: Injury Prevention without Giving Up Intensity or Gainz How to […]
Read More Annual Fitness Post: How to Be Aristotle in the GymIntroductionFreedom. No single word is found more often on the lips of the American politician. It is ‘Murika’s rallying cry. But what does it mean? And, once we’ve settled on a meaning, what sorts of actions does that value commit us to? As everyone knows, 99% of philosophy consists in asking, “Ah, ha! But what do […]
Read More Freedum Vs Freedom: What’s the Difference and Why Should We Care? USA! USA! EditionIntroductionMy second semester of teaching philosophy 101 I had that student; the one that every teacher dreads. You know, the one that sits there all class with a scowl on her face and only opens her mouth to say “What’s the point? Why are we even doing this?”. Next to math teachers, philosophy teachers probably […]
Read More Understanding Philosophy in the Real World: BrexitIf you don’t get it, read on… For this post I’m taking off my academic philosopher hat to gloss over fine distinctions I might otherwise make. I want to do philosophy for las masas. Wherever I use ’emotion’ in this entry, don’t think of it in a technical sense. I just mean any of drive, […]
Read More Emotion, Desire, and Life ChoicesPreamble: I’ve been working on this paper for longer than I care to admit but I have to turn it in at some point. I’ve written about 4 or 5 different versions of it all with different solutions or non-solutions to the puzzle I present. Anyhow, a few notes: (A) For some reason the footnotes […]
Read More Cilantro, Moral Truth, and JustificationFor a couple of years now I’ve been perplexed by the following problem: What counts as evidence for or justifies a moral belief? Even in asking the question I’m a bit confused because are two possible interpretations of the question (possibly more). We might say that what justifies a moral belief is that it is […]
Read More What Counts as Evidence for a Moral Belief?IntroductionThe major debate in ethics is whether there are objective moral facts. There are a variety of defenses and objections to either position. Those who say there are objective moral facts are called “realists” while those who deny realism are called anti-realists or nihilists (there are actually more positions such as constructivists and non-cognitivists but […]
Read More Review and Summary of "Ethics and Observation" by Harmon
Wrestling with Philosophy 