Tuesday, 9th February 2021
Murder and Stand Your Ground
New developments in the case of a former student of mine. His son was killed on a night he was drunk and confused, and tried to get into what he thought was his… Continue reading…
Wednesday, 3rd February 2021
Go Ahead and Complain
https://psyche.co/ideas/rise-up-fellow-complainers-lets-be-vulnerable-together
Kate Norlock is in favor of complaining. She makes a pretty good case that it is a social skill, that it can be done better or worse, and that like any skill it… Continue reading…
Sunday, 29th March 2020
Ethics in a Time of Crisis
Ah, good old utilitarianism is back, not that it ever left. Hate it hate it hate it. Why? Not because we aren’t forced into the situation sometimes of asking how to maximize utility, because… Continue reading…
Friday, 30th August 2019
“Ethics” Training
Shall we pick apart this email (see below) sent by our university president, at 4 pm just before the university closes for a hurricane? Ok, lets do that.
1. This isn’t ethics training, it’s… Continue reading…
Friday, 5th July 2019
Demons
This is a former UCF colleague, someone I knew (although not well), and a supporter of our first and second Flickering Landscapes conferences, in Moab and in Orlando. I’m very sad for the… Continue reading…
Wednesday, 3rd July 2019
Yesterday and Ethics
This post responds to the article here.
So, I haven’t seen the movie Yesterday, and not sure if I will. But here’s a post in which philosophers debate the central premise of… Continue reading…
Friday, 28th September 2018
Against Character
A truism of political morality is that we should take character seriously. This is, perhaps, more of a truism on the right than the left, but it would be rare to find someone who would… Continue reading…
Friday, 21st July 2017
Empathy, it’s complicated
From July 21, 2017
I saw someone have a seizure today. I was at the other end of the aisle at Costco, and I saw this guy, looked about 60 or so, start to jerk… Continue reading…
Monday, 20th February 2017
Moral Geography
From Feb. 20, 2017
I’m interested in the contours of the moral universe in which Trumpists reside. Lying is clearly not a problem with anyone. Sexual abuse is fine – yea for pussy grabbing. Hypocrisy… Continue reading…
Saturday, 14th January 2017
Hypocrisy
From Jan. 14, 2017
What’s wrong with hypocrisy? We usually think that it’s a violation of integrity, or that it’s a form of lying. These researchers argue that it’s about virtue signalling. We’re offended… Continue reading…
Monday, 24th October 2016
APA Code of Ethics
From Oct. 24, 2016
http://www.apaonline.org/general/custom.asp?page=codeofconduct
Ok, so the APA has a code of conduct now. Several people have been raising questions about whether it could be used to silence people, and the questions are… Continue reading…