Some instructors of baby logic define an enthymeme as an argument with at least one missing premise. Strictly speaking this is a mistake. If the premise is needed to render the argument valid, and yet it’s missing, then the argument… Read More ›
abortion
NOT ALL THAT SERIOUSLY
Let me come clean about how shallow a person I am. I’ll put myself in harm’s way for a thrill, but not for a cause. Not even to save the life of a loved one? Well maybe, if the likelihood… Read More ›
FROM THE THINGS NOT TO THINK ABOUT FILE
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 ›
HOBBES ON ABORTION
Do our fellow citizens have an interest, and so can they take an interest, in our reproductive behaviour? Of course they do and can. But can the state, on their behalf, take an interest in our reproductive behaviour? Pro-Lifers say… Read More ›
RAPE AND INCEST
Don’t get me wrong – which of course you will – but I am not a pro-Lifer. But if I were a pro-Lifer – which, remember, I’m not – I’d think I’d still be a stickler for logical consistency. So… Read More ›
RIGHTEOUS KILLING
Most of us draw the distinction – and thankfully the law does too – between celebrating an illegal act and advocating one, and then between advocating one and inciting one. For example, I’ve made no secret that I thought 9/11… Read More ›
CELEBRATION AND INCITEMENT
Amnesty International has always been notoriously silent about Israeli apartheid, because, understandably enough, it doesn’t want to alienate its sizeable Jewish donor base. It ignores a relatively few injustices so it can attract the resources to fight far more. Well,… Read More ›
WHAT THE JASON ALDEAN CONTROVERSY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT
For some people what matters is which songs are # 3 and # 4 on the Country and Western charts. Is there something defective about these people? Obviously, because what really matters is, What’s better, an Eatmore or an Oh… Read More ›
HOW TO GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
Try as it might, no constitution can include a mechanism for its own suspension, since if that mechanism were invoked it would have been constitutional to do so. That’s just a matter of logic. By contrast it’s not strictly speaking… Read More ›
MAR-A-LAGO, DOBBS, AND THE UNFORESEEABLE BUT SURE-TO-BE-COMEDIC FUTURE
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 ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 