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.

• Addendum to Pamela Lindsay’s recent Guest Post on implicit bias testing and training.

  By paulosophicalvimplications on March 6, 2022 • ( 3 )

  The following is an addendum to my Guest Post: “The ubiquitous, questionable, and possibly unethical use of implicit bias tests and training at Canadian universities under the auspices of EDI.” It’s designed to serve as a segue to my next bibliography,… 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 ›

• IMPLICIT BIAS TESTING

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 22, 2022 • ( 2 )

  I’d like to complain about my research assistant. A research assistant is supposed to look into things I need to know about, so that I can write about them without having to just bullshit. Instead, she researches whatever she wants… Read More ›

• Guest Post by Pamela Lindsay: The ubiquitous, questionable, and possibly unethical use of implicit bias tests and training at Canadian universities under the auspices of EDI.

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 20, 2022 • ( 2 )

  I’ve spent some time over the past two years of Covid-lockdown isolation researching EDI programmes. What follows is something of an annotated bibliography rather than a summary of my findings. (Note that I’ll be using  implicit and unconscious bias interchangeably.) Search any… Read More ›

• THE MANDATORY EDI LETTER

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 13, 2022 • ( 11 )

  What I’ve been discovering is that the woke-ness one espouses in public, and the opinion of it one holds in private, are often two very different things. Why is this? Others may not put it as eloquently as did my… Read More ›

• Guest Post. Saturday Morning Pam-toons. Why would I lie on my mandatory diversity pledge?

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 11, 2022 • ( 6 )

  Universities Canada principles on equity, diversity and inclusion, October 26, 2017 “Universities Canada make an explicit public commitment to seven principles [on equity, diversity, and inclusion],” available here. (accessed 11 February 2022) “A Guide to Preparing Your Diversity Statement,” Algonquin… Read More ›

• THE STRIKE AT THE SALT MINE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 10, 2022 • ( 3 )

  The salt mine where I work, a.k.a. the University of Lethbridge, is on strike as of 11 AM this morning, Thursday, February 10th. Because there’s never been a strike since the university was founded, we have a strike fund that… Read More ›

• SITE UPDATE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 9, 2022 • ( 0 )

  My research assistant, bless her cotton socks, has been adding some of my published and unpublished papers to this site. She’s also created a new category on the home page for some of my unpublished more technical papers. These are… Read More ›

• HOW THE ‘LIKE-ALIKE’ AXIOM REALLY PLAYS OUT IN MORAL AND POLITICAL JUDGMENT

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 9, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Abstract This paper reads like – because it is – a meditation. Its ‘moments’ are these: That like cases are to be treated alike seems to be the core axiom behind all our moral and political reasoning. And yet this… Read More ›