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.

• REQUIEM

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 31, 2020 • ( 0 )

  If people want radically different things from their government, it’s unlikely there’s going to be enough political stability to produce much of anything. So it’s a sign of a healthy society that the distance between Liberals and Conservatives in Canada… Read More ›

• THE PROBLEM WITH DEATH THREATS

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 31, 2020 • ( 2 )

  The problem with death threats is that you can’t elicit them. God knows I’ve tried. They have to come at you from left field, which so far they haven’t. So obviously I need to switch strategies. Not unlike a drug… Read More ›

• RACE RELATIONS AND INFOTAINMENT

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 30, 2020 • ( 9 )

  It was February, 1968, and I was just turning eighteen. I was sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Callao, the port city adjacent to Lima, Peru, reading an English language Time magazine that was reporting on the Tet Offensive in… Read More ›

• THE RACE WAR THERE WON’T BE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 29, 2020 • ( 0 )

  There are certain mantras that are omitted only at the speaker’s peril. For example, whenever there’s a tragedy the politician’s “heart [has to go] out to the friends and family”. And every address must end with “God bless the United… Read More ›

• POLICE RELATIONS MADE SIMPLE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 29, 2020 • ( 2 )

  It ain’t rocket science, people. Fear begets fight or flight. But sometimes – e.g. when defiance of legitimate authority is involved – the latter isn’t an option. Fight requires anger. And anger, if it’s to do its job, is notoriously… Read More ›

• … OR NOT

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 28, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Yesterday I posted my obituary for the Trump administration. But a less knee-jerk reader has reminded me that “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings”. He’s right. And so to cover my ass, I owe myself an explanation for… Read More ›

• OBITUARY

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 27, 2020 • ( 3 )

  It’s by no means a certainty, but it’s beginning to look like Trump isn’t going to win a second term. Some people think he’s going to find some pretext not to step down, but I think they’re just awfulizing. He’s… Read More ›

• THE MEANING OF LIFE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 26, 2020 • ( 1 )

  In an entry I posted on March 30 entitled “A Walk in the Sun”, I predicted the Covid crisis would be over by the beginning of summer. I was wrong. There now appears to be no way to predict how… Read More ›

• IMMIGRATION, INVASION, OCCUPATION, AND CONQUEST

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 21, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Few and far between are polities that manage to keep the foreigner out for long. As we’ve seen from the druthers of Donald Trump and his followers, by immigration is not meant the immigrant is necessarily welcomed in her new… Read More ›

• CONSPIRACY THEORIES

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 7, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Included in the long list of words that no longer mean what they used to – terrorism, indigenous, hate speech, and so on – is conspiracy theory. It used to mean that two or more people conspired to commit some… Read More ›