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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.

• WELL, THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!

  By paulosophicalvimplications on July 17, 2025 • ( 1 )

  WHY THIS RATHER THAN THAT? As any mother of a small child can tell you, any answer to a why question invites a why to that, and then another to that one, and so on, until the child either declares… Read More ›

• THERE SHOULD BE A LAW

  By paulosophicalvimplications on June 3, 2025 • ( 0 )

  It’s a well-known fact that Lee Harvey Oswald killed John Kennedy in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. But it’s a little-known fact that he did so not because Kennedy was the President of the United States but because he had… Read More ›

• POLITICAL ECONOMY MADE SIMPLE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on May 23, 2025 • ( 0 )

  Paying $3.99 for diapers instead of $4.19 gives Mom 20 cents more she can spend on lean ground beef instead of mostly filler. And that’s a good thing for kids. But governments need to fund themselves, and the ‘fairest’ way… Read More ›

• QUESTION OF THE WEEK

  By paulosophicalvimplications on May 22, 2025 • ( 0 )

  By some accounts the war between Palestinians and Zionists has been going on since 1947, by others since ’67. But by all accounts it’s the war that’s never going to end. There’ve been battles: ’48, ’56, ’67, ’73. Coupled with… Read More ›

• GIVING NEW MEANING TO SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT

  By paulosophicalvimplications on May 22, 2025 • ( 0 )

  The Bible isn’t a book. It’s a collection of several books. Wokeism isn’t one view. It’s a collection of several views. What unites them is what unites the collection of people who hold them. Something like a religion. First you… Read More ›

• WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?

  By paulosophicalvimplications on May 20, 2025 • ( 0 )

  I suppose I could get someone to brush my teeth, but it’s actually easier if I do it myself. But there are things I can’t do for myself, like get at that damn knot in the middle of my back…. Read More ›

• FROM THE THINGS NOT TO THINK ABOUT FILE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on May 13, 2025 • ( 0 )

  When we say “It’s a little known fact that …”, we usually mean precisely that. But since I’m a philosopher rather than a polymath, I like to use the phrase to refer to something that if you think about it,… Read More ›

• EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT TARIFFS THEY’RE AFRAID YOU’D ASK

  By paulosophicalvimplications on April 10, 2025 • ( 0 )

  If you find a stranger in your house, there are two questions you might ask. One is “How did you get here?” And the other is “What are you doing here?” However the intruder answers the first question – suppose… Read More ›

• 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 ›