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.

• FROM THE COULDN’T-HAVE-SAID-IT-BETTER-MYSELF FILE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 15, 2022 • ( 1 )

• ON CONDOLENCES

  By paulosophicalvimplications on January 8, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Allow me to just stipulate. By political individualism, as distinct from individualism simpliciter, I shall mean the view that what justifies the coercive power of the state are the interests of its constituent members. By contrast, for the collectivist it’s… Read More ›

• ON THE RESEGREGATION MOVEMENT

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 28, 2021 • ( 4 )

  Truth be told, there’s never not been segregation in Canada of its indigenous population. Even where it’s not legally mandated or enforced, we can see it on the school playground, in the gym, in our public parks, and so on. … Read More ›

• AN UNSEEMLY THOUGHT EXPERIMENT ABOUT DESMOND TUTU

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 28, 2021 • ( 3 )

  Here’s a fascinating statistical anomaly. Every Canadian soldier killed during the twenty year occupation of Afghanistan was eulogized as the finest human being who ever walked the Earth. Not a single asshole among them! Oh, and don’t forget that “He… Read More ›

• INDIGENOUS SCIENCE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 28, 2021 • ( 1 )

  Some academics argue that, the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas aside, the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere were at a pre-scientific level of development, and so there’s really no such thing as indigenous science. I think this mischaracterizes the case. … Read More ›

• A BEGRUDGING DEFENCE OF THE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 28, 2021 • ( 15 )

  I claim no conversance, let alone any expertise, in the residential school question, but I do know enough ethics to note that it’s feckless to condemn what was done in fact without offering what could have been done instead. From… Read More ›

• WELL OF COURSE ACADEMIC FREEDOM IS POLITICAL

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 27, 2021 • ( 0 )

  The scope of my academic freedom and of your freedom of expression are not coextensive. That is, I can, and regularly do, say all kinds of stupid things in the bar that I would be rightly disciplined for publishing in… Read More ›

• RECOUNTING THE COST

  By paulosophicalvimplications on December 27, 2021 • ( 1 )

  My apologies to my many millions of followers for my having gone silent for over a month now. Such are the wages – well, at least sometimes – of still having a job. But I promise henceforth to put my… Read More ›

• SAFE SPACES (Repost, 26/02/2020)

  By paulosophicalvimplications on October 20, 2021 • ( 3 )

  I’m not sure that academia attracts heresy. Rather I suspect it’s tenure that generates it. In fact since we’re all, by definition, catholic, without the threat of hell – or in our case unemployment – we’d probably all think unclean… Read More ›

• COUNTING THE COST

  By paulosophicalvimplications on October 19, 2021 • ( 19 )

  Front-line workers – in healthcare, in law enforcement, and so on – have every right to refuse to be vaccinated. Their employers – hospitals, police departments, and so on – have every right not to let them on the job-site… Read More ›