The Truth About Free Will
Neuroscience’s challenge to free will misses the point: consciousness and choice emerge from complex systems, not individual neurons.
Michael Shermer
· 8 min read
philosophy
A collection of 97 posts
Do Androids Dream?
The philosopher John Searle’s concept of Intentionality and his Chinese Room experiment reveal the differences between AI computation and human thought.
Sean Welsh
· 12 min read
The Ingratitude of the Well-Fed
We need to cultivate an appreciation for the abundance that modernity has bestowed instead of taking it for granted.
Maarten Boudry
· 13 min read
Why Mind Viruses Are Real
Comparing other people’s beliefs to pathogens can be a cheap way of discrediting them, but the idea of “mind viruses” still has real merit.
Maarten Boudry, Steije Hofhuis
· 13 min read
What Is a Woman? Many Philosophers (Still) Aren’t Allowed to Say
An Oxford-based academic philosopher explains why he no longer uses a pseudonym when discussing plain truths about biological sex.
Daniel Kodsi
· 3 min read
7 October, One Year Later with David Benatar: Quillette Cetera Episode 40
On the anniversary of 7 October, philosopher David Benatar discusses the ethical questions it raises and about his new book, “Very Practical Ethics.”
Zoe Booth
· 17 min read
Stoicism: A Life-Changing Philosophy
Stoicism is a workout that builds emotional strength, a caulking of the timbers to enable us to weather the coming storms—a preparation we make precisely because the ocean voyage is so rewarding.
Iona Italia
· 23 min read
Talking Philosophy with Bob Goodin
The case against retweets, what’s wrong with the War on Terror, equality in light of difference, and more.
Holly Lawford-Smith
· 8 min read
In Praise of Negativity Bias
It’s the things and people that offer pushback that make personal achievement possible and meaningful. It’s the knots that drive us to comb.
Iona Italia
· 5 min read
In Defence of Manifest 2024
The Guardian’s reporting on a gathering of heterodox thinkers is truly lamentable journalism.
Theo Jaffee
· 8 min read
Double Standards in the Gender Debate
Butler’s latest book is leftist political propaganda masquerading as the dispassionate work of an academic.
Holly Lawford-Smith
· 13 min read
Beware Cultural Drift
Thoughts on modernity’s monoculture mistake.
Robin Hanson
· 12 min read
The Metamodern Shift in the Culture Wars
Metamodernism conveys the experience of living in a world in which we feel comfortable oscillating between different perspectives.
Peter Clarke
· 6 min read
Not Everyone Who Disagrees with You Is An ‘Uncle Tom’
No one has an obligation to express, or refrain from expressing, a particular view, merely because they are part of a minority group.
Holly Lawford-Smith
· 11 min read
Motorpsycho Nightmare
Robert Pirsig’s insufferable cult novel about philosophy and bike maintenance turns 50.
Kevin Mims
· 18 min read