A Philosopher's Blog

When discussing liberty in my ethics class, I use the example of the time the mayor of New York considered a ban on selling sweetened drinks larger than 16 ounces. When

Years ago, Neal Stephenson argued that contemporary science fiction was too focused on nihilism and apocalyptic scenarios. As an example, the Walking Dead was compared unfavorably to the hopeful view of the

Way back in 2012 the Washington Post published a story about how teenage Mitt Romney took offense at the long hair of fellow student John Lauber. Lauber was often teased for

8Having fought in them since the 1980s, I know that America’s culture wars never change. My early tours of duty in the culture wars were on the gaming fronts, and

The American right’s war on trans rights began with the loss of its war against LGBQ rights. The battle that marked the end of that war (for the time being)

  As I am writing this, same sex marriage is legal in the United States and in 2025 the supreme court declined to revisit the gay marriage decision. But as

Like many Americans my age, I was cajoled by my parents to finish all the food on my plate because people were starving somewhere. When I got a bit older

The elimination of humanity by artificial intelligence is a classic theme in science fiction that some companies are working on to make a reality. In some stories, we create killer