philosophy

An Argument Against Qualia (and some stuff about Robots and Consciousness, too!)

epistemology, philosophy

Samuel Butler’s speculation (in Erewhon‘s Book of the Machines)  that machines could eventually develop consciousness was something of a joke, but the debate on robot consciousness has developed into a major issue in philosophy of mind, psychology, and neuroscience, as well as becoming a huge pop-culture phenomenon. The Matrix details robots taking over the world; […]

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W.V.O Quine: On What There Is (Summary & Critique)

analytic philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy

On What There Is: Quine’s Theory of Ontology and Position on Universals A universal describes a member of a class of mind-independent entities in reality that is not a particular thing, but an attribute, relation, etc. The realist position on universals posits that individuals share attributes with other individuals and that this commonality is manifested

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Summary and Critique of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosophy, Political Philosophy, social contract theory

At the foundation of modern moral justifications for the establishment of a coercive state is the voluntarization of that coercive power – in other words, the implication that obedience to governments is in some way chosen and thus morally binding. The philosophical construct that has come to embody this approach is described by the term

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Aristotle on the Flourishing Life in Politics and Nichomachean Ethics

Ancient Greece, Aristotle, philosophy, Political Philosophy

In Politics Aristotle argues that to lead a flourishing life, it is imperative that all free men embrace their responsibility in the political system. Consistent with this theory is the notion, as described by our political philosopher, that inherent human nature holds men to the conviction that they should participate in governmental proceedings, as he

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Locke vs. Hobbes on the Social Contract, Nature, and Civil Society

John Locke, philosophy, Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were relative contemporaries in philosophy, so it is no surprise that their comparison has become something of a cliché (hence this article?). While both philosophers use language couched in the tradition of natural law, they both advocate radically different views on human nature and ideal governance, as will be seen.

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Rawls vs. Nozick: Rawls’ Theory of Justice and Some Objections

philosophy, Political Philosophy, property rights

In the United States today, the public debates about healthcare, Social Security, and the standard of living have reached a new level of prominence. While some of these dialogues pertain to already-existing, but purportedly failing institutions like Social Security and the minimum wage, more than ever the climate of public opinion states, “government ought to

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