Philosophy

Here are some reblogs of some of Tim Harding’s favourite recent posts by other writers. (Reblogging does not necessarily entail endorsement of the views expressed).

2018

• How to reason with flat earthers (it may not help though)
• Philosophy Denial: A Trap for the Unwary
• The death of philosophy?
• Five big philosophical questions: my modest take
• The moral value of wilderness

2017

• Philosophies of redistribution
• It’s unrealistic to expect MPs to follow the view of the people who elected them every time
• Leszek Kolakowski: a critique of everything Marxist ever
• The Bad Writing Contest, Press Releases 1996-1998
• Sometimes giving a person a choice is an act of terrible cruelty
• How do you know that what you know is true? That’s epistemology
• Stoicism 5.0: The unlikely 21st century reboot of an ancient philosophy
• Book review: The Death of Expertise
• Krauss apologizes for dissing philosophy
• Facts are not always more important than opinions: here’s why
• How French ‘intellectuals’ ruined the West: postmodernism and its impact, explained
• How we edit science part 5: so what is science?
• Why should we obey the law?
• Vice Chancellor Barney Glover says universities must stand up for facts and the truth – ‘if we don’t, who will?’
• Words, Tweets and Stones in the “Political Correctness” Wars

2016

• Why you shouldn’t blame lying on the brain
• Where to start reading philosophy?
• Euthanasia and palliative sedation are distinct concepts – intent matters
• The Folly of Scientism
• Not so simple (James Fodor on crude positivism) 
• Whose word should you respect in any debate on science?
• What’s in a name? How a democracy becomes an aristocracy
• What exactly is the scientific method and why do so many people get it wrong?
• Senator, You’re No Socrates
• The Galileo gambit and other stories: the three main tactics of climate denial
• Automation can leave us complacent, and that can have dangerous consequences
• Why we need to hear what controversial people say and not silence the debate
• The trolley dilemma: would you kill one person to save five?
• Was Carl Sagan an accommodationist?
• Progress in Mathematics and Logic — I
• Progress in Science — I
• Bertrand Russell and the case for ‘Philosophy for Everyone’
• Real journalists report the news – they don’t make it
• How can we justify science?: Sokal and Lynch debate epistemology
• Has philosophy lost its way?
• We can’t trust common sense but we can trust science
• What does it mean to think and could a machine ever do it?
• Against accommodationism: How science undermines religion

2015

• Science deniers reject authority and facts
• The truth, the whole truth and … wait, how many truths are there?
• What Would a Stoic Do? I met a sophist, and it didn’t go well
• Contentious politics: Hobbes, Machiavelli and corporate power
• Rethinking Doubt
• The science-pseudoscience demarcation problem
• The Problem of Evil: Still A Strong Argument for Atheism
• Two favorite philosophers: Bertrand Russell and Gilbert Ryle
• What makes weird beliefs thrive? The epidemiology of pseudoscience
• Why should we place our faith in science?
• Voluntary euthanasia: beware of the godly!
• What is a ‘classical liberal’ approach to human rights?
• Why Plato’s Euthydemus is relevant to Stoics
• Singer and Fisher preach to their flocks in euthanasia debate
• When is it ethical to euthanize your pet?
• Philosophy in schools: promoting critical, creative and caring thinking
• Greek Philosophy – the Movies
• Belle Gibson shows that most of us care about right and wrong
• Five things you should learn about ethics
• Postmodernism disrobed
• To stop the machines taking over we need to think about fuzzy logic
• Russell’s proof that 1+1=2
• Why we need to listen to the real experts in science

2014

• How to teach all students to think critically
• Socrates’ Test Of Three
• No, you’re not entitled to your opinion
• The Philosophy Book
• Love, wisdom and wonder: three reasons to celebrate philosophy
• The ethics of bravery: why a Black Saturday ‘hero’ lost his award
• Are you a poor logician? Logically, you might never know
• Free your mind – but are there ideas we shouldn’t contemplate?
• Lawrence Krauss: another physicist with an anti-philosophy complex
• Philosophy under attack: Lawrence Krauss and the new denialism
• Happy days: virtue isn’t just for sanctimonious do-gooders