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.

• TAKING SIDES

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 7, 2025 • ( 0 )

  It’s hard sometimes for students of history to remember they’re also living in history. That I’m no exception I find embarrassing. I’m embarrassed because I’m upset about Ukraine and Palestine. But why? National borders change with the alacrity of the… Read More ›

• TRADE, TAXES, AND TARIFFS

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 3, 2025 • ( 1 )

  Here’s another from the Words-No-Longer-Mean-What-They-Did file. In talking about free trade, what’s the contrast class? It can’t be compelled trade, since that would just be a synonym for expropriation. And yet by free trade we don’t just mean trade that… Read More ›

• LEDICE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 17, 2025 • ( 1 )

  There’s a civil war, though not a very civil one, that’s been going on in the southern Levant at least since 1948. Let’s see if we can identify the combatants. But first a disclaimer. Any attempt to define the parties… Read More ›

• A COMPLETE INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS IN ELEVEN MINUTES – TIME ME

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 16, 2025 • ( 1 )

  Nothing about money or trading or buying or selling or competition or interest or inflation or taxes or … the list goes on and on. None of it makes any sense unless people own stuff. And people own stuff if… Read More ›

• POST MORTEM

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 3, 2025 • ( 0 )

  What Fox is reporting, but MSNBC is being assiduous not to acknowledge, is that one of the reasons behind the Democrats’ defeat in November is the growing rejection of wokeism. Why has the left gone silent on this? Because to… Read More ›

• GOING BOURBON

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 3, 2025 • ( 0 )

  Let’s do some conceptual housecleaning. Having a purpose and having a reason are two different things. The terrorist has a purpose in mind. He’s trying to change a government’s behaviour, whereas the reason someone goes postal is that he’s angry…. Read More ›

• MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 2, 2025 • ( 0 )

  Occam’s Razor advises us never to multiply entities beyond what’s needed to explain what needs explaining. Is this because the simpler explanation is more likely to be the correct one? If so, what would explain that? So no. Rather it’s… Read More ›

• A CHRISTMAS CAROL

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 12, 2024 • ( 0 )

  The birth of the Saviour wasn’t foretold. It was backtold. That doesn’t mean the story is false, though in fact it is. But it does mean the backtellers have to make up a whole lot of the details. Repeat a… Read More ›

• LUIGI MANGIONE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 11, 2024 • ( 0 )

  It’s not yet clear what particular beef he had with the American health care system, but clearly discontent with it is widespread enough in America that some Americans – not many but some – are hailing Luigi Mangione as a… Read More ›

• THE PERILS OF ASSOCIATIVE THINKING

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 11, 2024 • ( 0 )

  Every liberator will eventually become a tyrant. He has to, because otherwise – or so he tells himself – the forces of the counter-revolution will reassert themselves. It happened with Robespierre, with Stalin, with Mussolini. It happened with Mao and… Read More ›