There Aren't Any Good Arguments Against Lab Meat
If we can replace the factory farms that torture animals by the billions, we should!
Department
Philosophy.
Wisdom, ethics, and first principles.
Lately on the shelf
30 of 622Thursday's Trailheads
Tolkien and Tech by Michael Lucchese Tolkien’s near-Luddite skepticism can still teach us how to relate to new technologies, even if motorcars have become an insurmountable fact of modern life. The Digital Revolution, from smartphones to artificial intelligenc…
Correction
About a year ago, in my article The Grisly Return of Holocaust Denial, I stated that Eric Hunt kidnapped Eli Wiesel.
Thought-Terminating Jargon
On thought being a vehicle for language rather than language being a vehicle for thought
Right-libertarians must believe in God. But if they do, they are doomed!
The title is an exaggeration and an overstatement and a titillating piece of tomfoolery; my argument today will not apply to every right-wing libertarian, and talk of ‘doom’ is wanton fearmongering.
Dissertation Defense Video + Digital Essay
I’m sharing two quick things today:
Wednesday's Trailheads
The Politics of Pathology by Theodore Dalrymple There was recently an article in the British Medical Journal about the ethics of diagnosing President Trump’s psychological or medical condition by doctors who had never examined him. It was generally a very fair…
On family affection
The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.11
Why I think panic about local impacts of data centers is just a panic
A request for counter examples
The Most Important Decision For Animals in American History
The factory farms are trying to keep pigs in cages so they don't have to feed them as much. It's up to us to stop them.
Is parenthood selfish or selfless? It’s both.
Guest post by Darby Saxbe
Tuesday's Trailheads
Gen Z Is Lost in the Backrooms by Jack Butler These places are easy to ignore. But an entire subculture, mostly populated by the digital natives of Gen Z, is obsessed with them. To zoomers, they have a sterile, stifling quality. They’re oppressively nondescrip…
Philanthropy Needs Ambitious Projects Immediately
Tens of billions of philanthropic dollars are coming, but we don’t know how to spend them well.
Academics Must Wake Up on AI (with Alexander Kustov)
Is AI already better at many research tasks than humans? And if so, is this a reflection of how good AI is, or how bad much existing research is?
Meta-ethics, Star Trek, and Samurai
Can we ever criticize another culture? On what grounds?
Monday’s Trailheads
From the Fourth Estate to Digital Fragmentation by Itxu Diaz It is also not easy to know the sources or the origin of information. As the profiles of what used to be a conventional journalist have become blurred, those who spontaneously turn to reporting do no…
EAG London 2026
The weaving of a beautiful thing
Negative Covenant
Objections to the Metacritique of Palestine
What Happened to Foreign Aid?
After the cataclysm
It Doesn’t Make Sense for Greta Thunberg to Transition to Gaza Activism if She Thinks Climate Change Will Kill Everyone
The people being snarky on the internet are wrong
Askēsis & Perception
Notes from my dissertation defense
Friday's Trailheads
The Bitter Lessons of Sugar Control in World War I by Daniel J. Smith The Food Administration proudly claimed it had saved consumers millions. Yet as Roy Blakey (1918) observed, gratitude evaporated when sugar simply sporadically disappeared from tables in reg…
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
Why Philosophy
What it’s good for, and how it could be better still
Why I Don't Buy Any of the Counterexamples to Consequentialism
Utilitarians are right about footbridge, transplant, etc
Thursday's Trailheads
Defenders of Classical Liberalism Are the Real Revolutionaries by Adam A. Millsap This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There will be no shortage of celebrations, but as we commemorate the occasion, we should remember what e…
Smug Internet Leftists
On leftist smart
In Europe, There Is No Simple Immigration-Crime Story
Here are some statements that you might have heard at different times and in different venues concerning immigrants and crime in Europe:
Early Socratic dialogues: Charmides
Is virtue a kind of knowledge?
Wednesday's Trailheads
The Parents Who Let Their Daughter Die by Rupa Subramanya Then the pandemic hit. As lockdowns stretched on, Iris retreated—into her room, away from friends, away from everything. At 15, she tried to kill herself twice. The first time, she attempted to hang her…