I've seen a lot in recent days about Russian ads. Some people are under the impression that outside interference and "election meddling" through racially charged advertisement are major concerns. However, this is not the case. The racial issue is real; the Russia issue, not so much. Even if Russia did attempt to influence the American… Continue reading A Note on Russian Ads
After the Las Vegas shooting I wrote a will called “If I’m Killed in a Mass Shooting.” In it I made two claims: There is no gun debate. Despite the patina of rationality, the NRA slate of arguments is so transparently terrible that it makes a mockery of the whole concept of public discourse. What’s… Continue reading It Won’t Be Different This Time
The more I read and think about Facebook, the more I am convinced that it is deeply terrible for the world—and, as a corollary that few people accept, the more obvious it is to me that Facebook should no longer exist. So I am calling on Mark Zuckerberg to do the right thing: shut Facebook… Continue reading Facebook Should Shut Itself Down
What is hypocrisy? Why are accusation of hypocrisy so appealing? And yet why are they always ineffective?
Political discourse is a swamp of poor arguments and miseducation. Dialogue between those who disagree is becoming impossible. A particular segment of the political world is actively undermining the concept of truth. The Republican party knows that it can lie repeatedly to the country with impunity. More and more issues are being folded into the… Continue reading What Philosophy Owes Society IV: Better Teachers
For many conservatives I know, and many Catholics in particular, abortion is a “litmus test” political issue. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the commitment to vote only for pro-life candidates tortured scores of my family members and friends. Many of them were appalled by Donald Trump’s oft-demonstrated arrogance, ignorance, and insensitivity. Some openly doubted his… Continue reading A Letter to Single-Issue Abortion Voters
One has to make adjustments in one’s writing if one wants to avoid sexist language. Such a sentence is an example of the clunkiness that often comes about with the adjustment. I have heard numerous philosophers (and people in other fields) complain about the awkwardness of the ‘inclusive language’ convention—instead of ‘he’, saying 'one', ‘he/she’… Continue reading What is Wrong with Inclusive Language
