Philosophers’ Corner

Democracy can take many forms. But is democracy itself – as opposed to this or that form of democracy – an inherently good thing? Smart people have differed on this issues. The great philosopher and statesman, Winston Churchill, noted, “democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Plato was a better philosopher, and he disagreed. He thought democracy was the worst possible form of government. He favored an aristocracy run by philosopher kings.

‘Nihilism’ is based on the Latin word for `nothing’: nihil.  Nihilism is used for a…

  Millions of people believe that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God, sent…

Topoi provides an excellent expression of a view of philosophy that I share: Topoi’s main…

Suppose we frame it like this. Those currently alive will somehow collectively decide between two options: (i) Make minimal changes to the way we live, and leave future generations a very polluted, warm, earth. Or (ii) make substantial changes to the way we live, at great cost to our own comfort levels, and leave a much less polluted, and less warmed up world to future generations. There is a tradeoff; we live better, they live worse; they live better, we live worse. Why is it clear that it’s better for us to sacrifice and leave them better off?

  This week’s episode is about “Forgetting and Forgiving.”   Frankly, though,  the ‘forgetting’ part is…

Though a few of my most left-leaning friends think we could do entirely without any sort of military, there has never been and will never be a vast and populous nation like ours without armed services. But even if we take it as a given that any nation, especially a nation that wants to be a significant player on the world stage, is going to have a military of some sort, that still leaves lots of questions open.

  Kierkegaard was a very important Danish philosopher of the early 19th century.  He criticized…

Holding something sacred is often associated with religion and God. Some things are held to be sacred because of their relation to God’s wishes and commands. I think our question is in part about contemporary mores. It’s also about what sort of convincing rationale there might be for something being sacred, in our more or less secular age.

Lots of people actually do believe in miracles. People who survive cancer against all the medical odds sometime regard that as a miracle – a real miracle, the sort that requires divine intervention. The question isn’t whether people do believe in miracles. People believe in all sorts of things. The question is whether people should believe in them. What would it take to convince a reasonable person that a genuine miracle has actually occurred?

Cooperation is found in many species of animals. Take dolphins, wolves, and chimpanzees. They’re all amazingly successful hunters. Why? Because they’re highly cooperative hunters. And there’s no doubt that human beings have taken the art of cooperation to levels that our animal friends can’t begin to match.

Imagine what it’s like to be a newborn baby. For months, you’ve been all alone in this warm and cozy womb, your every need catered to. Then suddenly, out of the blue, you’re thrust into a chaotic world, filled with strange new sights and sounds—and people… lots of people… big people. They’re doing all sorts of things that you have no idea about. And all you can do is lie there, looking helpless, cute, and dumb. Fortunately, babies are a lot smarter than they look.

  Our topic this week is Morality and the Self.  Now most people think of…

Once upon a time, especially in the ancient world, philosophers thought a lot about the nature of wisdom. In fact, that was true almost by definition. The two Greek words ‘philo’ and ‘sophia’ from which our word ‘philosophy’ is derived literally mean love of wisdom. I think it would be fair to say that for many Greek philosophers, the pursuit of wisdom was the be all and end all of philosophy