Most people have their smart phone in their pocket at all times. Most smart phones are also recording devises. If there’s any chance it’ll be a “he said, she said”, stick your hand in your pocket and press the record… Read More ›
Social and Political Philosophy
CHALLENGE versus RIDICULE
Much as I’d sometimes like to be, I’m not a knee-jerk civil libertarian. I understand that the maintenance – and before that the promotion – of a civil society sometimes requires limits to freedom of movement, of association, of expression,… Read More ›
TWO LECTURES YOU WON’T GET AT LAW SCHOOL
LESSON 1: NATURAL LAW AND POSITIVE LAW There are, among the Great Unwashed – that’s everybody except me, by the way – some pretty serious misconceptions about law. Some people, including some philosophers, think there’s something called natural law, by… Read More ›
THE TRUTH-ABOUT-SNEEZING MOVEMENT
Consider the following two claims: 1) Sneezing could provoke an attack from Mars. 2) Anthropogenic climate change may have contributed to the civil war in Syria. Both of these statements are undoubtedly true, since all they mean is 1) There’s… Read More ›
SLAVERY
Because I’m now two-thirds of a century old I’m allowed to be a curmudgeon. I don’t say things like, “Why can’t they mow their lawn?!”, but I do ask, “Why can’t my students write in proper English sentences?!” But what… Read More ›
UNEMPLOYMENT
I’m not the first to say what I’m about to say here, but I think it has to be said over and over and over again, to at least attempt to counter the nonsense that’s been spouted over and over… Read More ›
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND THE BROMIDE
The recent spat – actually it’s turning into a spate of spats – between Donald Trump and the mainstream media, has resurrected a query I’ve had for decades. What exactly justifies freedom of the press? The standard bromide, recall, is… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 