Author Archives

I'm a philosophy professor at the University of Lethbridge in Southern Alberta, Canada. I specialize in philosophy of war, game theory, contractarianism, and theodicy (the Problem of Evil). I am bald, fat, and ugly, but my wife loves me, so I don't care.

• UKRAINE, RUSSIA, AND THE DOOLITTLE RAID

  By paulosophicalvimplications on April 1, 2022 • ( 2 )

  Suppose I accuse you of wearing a blue tie on a Tuesday. Surely the most obvious response is, What’s wrong with wearing a blue tie on a Tuesday? Well, Russia is accusing the Ukrainians of having bombed a fuel depot… Read More ›

• THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 30, 2022 • ( 4 )

  In his Introduction to Metaphysics, Martin Heidegger asked, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” It’s a stupid question only in the sense that the answer is so self-evident. Of all the nigh-infinite worlds that could be, there’s only one… Read More ›

• UKRAINE AND THE EICHMANN DEFENCE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 26, 2022 • ( 4 )

  The Eichmann Defence – “I was just following orders!” – didn’t work for Eichmann, nor should it have. Nor did it work for William Calley at Mai Lai. It’s a scandal, then, that we all let it pass for Romeo… Read More ›

• SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT WAR

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 26, 2022 • ( 1 )

  Since the Six Day War of June ’67, tank battles have been won in the skies above them. Zelenskyy can’t match Putin on the ground – at least not indefinitely – nor, without NATO, in the air. So it’s no… Read More ›

• … BUT FEAR ITSELF

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 16, 2022 • ( 3 )

  Until now in this blog I’ve been pressing my views, for what little they’re worth, on what’s happening in the world, but I’ve assiduously avoided touting myself as some kind of expert in the matters on which I’ve opined. But… Read More ›

• Guest Post. EDI Concepts: Research Excellence (Updated August 25, 2023)

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 7, 2022 • ( 0 )

  This post is an annotated bibliography. But rather than list citations in alphabetical order, I’ve organised them under subheadings comprised of research questions. As such, I provide a possible framework for a research project. An alphabetised non-annotated bibliography corresponding to… Read More ›

• Guest Post. EDI Concepts: Unconscious/Implicit Bias (Updated Aug 25, 2023)

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 7, 2022 • ( 3 )

  This post is an annotated bibliography. But rather than list citations in alphabetical order, I’ve organised them under subheadings comprised of research questions. As such, I provide a possible framework for a research project. An alphabetised non-annotated bibliography corresponding to… Read More ›

• Addendum to Pamela Lindsay’s Bibliography on Implicit Bias

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 6, 2022 • ( 3 )

  The following is an addendum to my Guest Post, “Bibliography: Implicit Bias.” It’s designed to serve as a segue to my next bibliography, on EDI and research excellence, to be released tomorrow, March 7, 2022. Here, find three considerations concerning… Read More ›

• NO FREE LUNCH (Russia/Ukraine)

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 1, 2022 • ( 5 )

  Since I specialize in the Philosophy of War, I suppose I’m expected to say something, however banal, about recent events in Eastern Europe. So here is that banal something.  Ethnic and political borders seldom coincide. So there’s a longstanding tradition… Read More ›

• The Myth of Civilian Immunity — Why There ‘Could’ Be No Such Law —

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 24, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Abstract. Busting the myth of civilian immunity has long since been standard, albeit unpalatable, philosophical fare. But such myth-busting has invariably appealed to either a) Hobbes’ argument for the incoherence of the very idea of international law, or else b)… Read More ›