Moral disagreements are a common part of life. But there is something very surprising about moral disagreements that we often don’t realize. To illustrate this, allow me to present you with a thought experiment.[1] Please imagine these four people: Person #1: Jill believes X is the moral thing to do. Now, Jill truly cares about… Continue reading A Surprising Thing about Moral Disagreements
Here’s a common saying, “You can achieve anything you can dream.” Sentiments like this are common, and the idea behind them seems to be that we have the power to achieve anything we want to achieve. Now, such beliefs can feel inspiring. They give us a sense of power over our life, and they can… Continue reading Can We Achieve Anything We Can Dream?
Would you like to be the smartest person in the world? I think a lot of people would like to be. But perhaps most of us think such a goal is impossible. And, logically, it is in fact impossible for everyone to be the smartest person in the world. But what about being one of… Continue reading How to Be the Smartest Person in the World
Do you consider playfulness a virtue? Did you know there is actually a virtue of playfulness? It's called eutrapelia. If you are like a lot of people, you probably think of play as belonging to the arena of childhood. You might even think—and you would be right—that play is essential for healthy child development. However,… Continue reading Aristotle on Eutrapelia, the Virtue of Playfulness
The ethics of compassion is one type of ethical code, and it’s important to act according to an ethical code. In the absence of a such a code, we tend to act according to instinct, passion, impulse, tradition, egocentric interest, or peer pressure. Most of these influences are not evil in themselves. However, if they… Continue reading The Ethics of Compassion
Over the years, I have heard a lot of people ask this same question in various forms: Should we tolerate everything? And this is certainly an important question. One of the hallmarks of the U.S.[1], ideally, is that we tolerate diversity of ideas.[2] Because of this, we have a long-standing tradition of tolerating a variety… Continue reading Should We Tolerate Everything?
I have been wanting to write this post for a long time, and having just celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday, I realized that now is the time. I want to write about the greatest gift my dad has given me. To tell you about this, I need to tell you a little bit about my… Continue reading The Greatest Gift My Dad Gave Me
This post is a guide for reading chapter one of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Some Background on Freire If you have read my blog for a while or have looked at my author's bio, you may know that the Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire has a great influence on my thought and… Continue reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed–Chapter One
This post shares ten important principles of being human with you. It is connected with another post I wrote about how to know if we are being mistreated, which you can read here. To know if we are being mistreated, it seems like we must know a few basic principles about what it means to… Continue reading Ten Principles of Being Human
Over Thanksgiving, I got to spend some time with my nephews, and I ended up having a philosophy conversation with my preteen nephew, J, about mad scientists, identity, and the ship of Theseus. I used to be a middle and high school teacher and have always loved preteens and teenagers. I find that when they… Continue reading Mad Scientists and the Ship of Theseus: Philosophy Games
