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.

• BAFFLEGAB

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 18, 2022 • ( 3 )

  It’s been around since before we emerged from the cave. Or maybe even before we came down from the trees. So the only thing new about it is how it’s beginning to irritate the fuck out of me. It began… Read More ›

• DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE 101

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 15, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Here are some of the enabling axioms we’re going to need, both a) to define distributive justice, and then b) to settle on what a just distribution might look like. Let the x axis be one’s share of the cooperative… Read More ›

• INDUCTION AND STEREOTYPES

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 14, 2022 • ( 0 )

  And while we’re at it, let’s settle once and for all all this blather about stereotyping. A stereotype is just a run-of-the-mill induction, usually performed on a person rather than a more general causal relation. The sun has risen in… Read More ›

• BETWEEN AND AGAINST

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 14, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Okay, let’s get this settled, once and for all. To discriminate is to ascertain the difference between two things and behave accordingly. So, for example, I have a discriminating taste for both wines and curries. I’m also able to –… Read More ›

• MAR-A-LAGO, DOBBS, AND THE UNFORESEEABLE BUT SURE-TO-BE-COMEDIC FUTURE

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 14, 2022 • ( 0 )

  The raid on Mar-a-Lago has done little to dampen the conviction that there’s a deep-state conspiracy against the Donald, and one designed to ensure that the Democrats remain in power. And the Dobbs decision has motivated many women to try… Read More ›

• THE ROAD TO PERDITION

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 14, 2022 • ( 0 )

  The road to perdition is almost always paved with the very best of intentions. For example, in 2000 the Government of Canada instituted and funded a highly ambitious Canadian Research Chair program. Tier Two rewards were designed to encourage scholars… Read More ›

• MAGA (MAKING THE ACADEMY GREAT AGAIN)

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 14, 2022 • ( 0 )

  Today I heard an account I’d never heard before. White males are losing interest in a university education because the oil patch is paying too much. So to survive universities have to attract non-whites, and to do that it has… Read More ›

• PARSING THE EDI INITIATIVES

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 13, 2022 • ( 0 )

  All the palaver aside, EDI is just the latest rebranding of quota hiring. Quota hiring is justified by one or both of two claims: 1) social justice requires it and/or 2) performance excellence does. Hiring a nigh-illiterate indigenous women as… Read More ›

• THE WHO-STARTED-IT GAME

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 13, 2022 • ( 0 )

  When two parties are having at each other, strictly speaking somebody has to have delivered the first blow. But how far back are we to reconstruct? Or, what amounts to the same thing, what’s the statute of limitations on retaliation?… Read More ›

• TALK AS STUPID AS IT IS CHEAP

  By paulosophicalvimplications on August 12, 2022 • ( 1 )

  Just when I thought I’d plumbed the depth of Administration stupidity with my entry entitled “The Dean’s Letter”, Pamela Lindsay, my part time research assistant and full time wife – has just brought to my attention what makes Matt Letts… Read More ›