philopapers

Mary Midgley meditates on mind and meaning among the mutations. Researchers report that people who are asked to give their reason for converting to Creationism often say that they have done so because they see it as the only possible alternative to ‘Darwinism’, which they equate with atheism and find intolerable. What does ‘Darwinism’ mean […]

Nearly twenty years ago in West Nickel Creek, Pennsylvania, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered a one-room schoolhouse and gunned down ten schoolchildren. Six of the children died. In the aftermath, the Amish community whose children were the victims, did not respond with demands for retribution. Instead, they extended forgiveness. They not only posthumously forgave Roberts,

Michael Langford talks about the language we use to talk about the mind and brain. Rejections of freewill have been common in recent philosophical debate (e.g., in Norman Bacrac’s article ‘Epiphenomenalism Explained’ in Philosophy Now 81). The question is, are the choices we make really free, or are they predetermined consequences of the laws of

Jan Deckers and Dominic Hall ask whether relatives of patients with a genetic disease should be told that they themselves are at an increased risk. Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease is the commonest cause of dementia, and one of the most prevalent diseases in those over 65. It must be distinguished from familial (early onset) Alzheimer’s disease,

In 1998 Andy Clark and David Chalmers published an article entitled “The Extended Mind” in which they argued that the mind extends beyond the skull. This was, and to many still is, a rather remarkable thesis. To be clear, they weren’t the first to challenge the boundaries of the mind. Others had argued that the

Michael Voytinsky finds another take on a classic utilitarian dilemma. A hypothetical example comes up in many discussions of utilitarianism and its implications: three people with three different failing organs lie dying in a hospital when a healthy person arrives with a minor injury. If utilitarians are serious about wanting the greatest happiness for the

This book is a collection of interesting papers edited by Walter Ott and Lydia Patton. It fills an oft-noted gap in the laws literature: namely, connecting familiar contemporary accounts to their early modern predecessors. Chapters one through six describe and evaluate several different notions of laws that appear in early modern history and explore how

Kidney specialist Mahendra Govani recommends a particular variety of evolved ethical behaviour. During the recorded and unrecorded evolutionary march towards happiness, the ultimate goal, humanity has mastered many mountains, walked through a variety of valleys, and tumbled into dozens of dreadful ditches. However, one can argue that in the arena of social and ethical development

Stephen S. Bush takes on the difficult task of building an account of William James’s democratic political thought. As Bush notes, a number of scholars have dismissed the idea that James had anything to say politically, with the exception of a few condemnations of lynching. Bush clearly succeeds in rebutting those dismissive of James as

Tony Simpson tells us how the Russell-Einstein manifesto led to Pugwash. “He was not only a great scientist but a great man, a man whom it is good to have known and consoling to contemplate.” With these words Bertrand Russell concluded his Preface to Einstein on Peace (1960). Down the years, Russell and Albert Einstein