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.

• WHAT IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY?

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 6, 2022 • ( 0 )

  In this paper I attempt to rescue the notion of a crime against humanity from the charge that it is either redundant or else a pseudo-concept. I argue that crimes against humanity are gross violations of basic human rights when… Read More ›

• WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IS WRONG WITH GENOCIDE?

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 6, 2022 • ( 0 )

  — for presentation on October 7, 2009, and again on October 4, 2012, for the Liberal Education Capstone course on genocide —

• PACIFISM, ADVOCACY, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 4, 2022 • ( 0 )

  – for presentation at the ILECS in Belgrade on June 23, 2012 – Viminitz, Paul. “Pacifism, advocacy, and population dynamics.” Belgrade Philosophical Annual 25 (2012): 281-291.

• WHAT’S WRONG WITH NUCLEAR HOSTAGE HOLDING?

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 3, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Since no nation can divest itself of its own rearmament capacity, nuclear disarmament amounts to (what Steven Lee calls) weaponless deterrence. But, he thinks, weaponless deterrence can escape the deontological objection to nuclear hostage holding because it only threatens to… Read More ›

• COERCION

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 3, 2022 • ( 0 )

  I argue that if the notion of coercion is given a non-normative interpretation, then it can do no work for us. Of its normative interpretations – any precisification of the term and condemnation of coercion arising from natural law is… Read More ›

• A THEORY OF WAR

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 2, 2022 • ( 0 )

  ABSTRACT: By virtue of what I call the Counterfeit White Flag Problem, a state of civil society and a state of war are shown to be both phenomenologically and epistemically indistinguishable. From this – or so I argue – it… Read More ›

• A ‘DEFENSE’ OF RACISM

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 2, 2022 • ( 0 )

  I’m convinced, or at least satisfied, that there’s nothing to be lost, and arguably a great deal to be gained, by naturalizing racism, if naturalized it can be.

• HOW TO BOIL FROG

  By paulosophicalvimplications on February 2, 2022 • ( 0 )

  THE NON-IDENTITY OF INDISCERNIBLES – and, apparently, the discernibility of identicals – IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE – or – HOW TO BOIL FROG Paul Viminitz <vimip0@uleth.ca> Philosophy, U. of Lethbridge Abstract Without in any wise restricting its egress from… Read More ›

• DISABILITY

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 21, 2022 • ( 5 )

  What it is to be disabled is to be unable, or at least less able, than others at some specifiable task. This is because we’re all unable, or at least less able, than others, at something. And who are these… Read More ›

• QUASIMODO

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 21, 2022 • ( 1 )

  Imagine a world where there’s a fetching woman for every man, even if he’s Quasimodo. Where BMWs grow on trees. Where there’s a spot in the professoriate for every candidate who wants one. Under conditions of such plenty, there can… Read More ›