Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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(Policy of Truth) Scanlon and “Justifiability to Others”
T. M. (“Tim”) Scanlon is best known for his advocacy, especially in his book What We Owe to Each Other (1998), of the moral theory of contractualism. Contractualism is broadly the idea that morality is based on a social agreement or “contract.” It can in principle refer to any contract-based moral theory, within a certain…
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(A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry) Collections: Total Generalship: Commanding Pre-Modern Armies, Part IIIa: Discipline
This is the third(ish) part of our four(ish)-part (I, II) look at the role of the general in the command of pre-modern armies, particularly in the context of a pitched battle. Last time, we looked at the limits on the ability of the general to communicate his orders to his army. While films and video…
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(Policy of Truth) Germany, Ukraine, and Habermas: An American Perspective
A decade ago, on one of his visits to the United States, I urged Jürgen Habermas to support the idea of a global democratic alliance that could replace the discredited United Nations Security Council and form a sufficient counterweight to rising threats from Russia and China. This idea, which is developed in my book, A…
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( Comments for Policy of Truth ) Comment on Teaching Machiavelli in Palestine by Irfan Khawaja
In reply to Irfan Khawaja. A few quick, telegraphic answers to the questions above above: though I don’t mention “MacIntyre” in the paper, there are three or four MacIntyre-related connections or influences on the paper, as follows: O…
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(QC RSS) Comics
Sorry the RSS was down! I was traveling and didn’t have access to it.
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( Comments for Policy of Truth ) Comment on New Blogger: John Davenport by Irfan Khawaja
In reply to John Davenport. Sounds good. I will put your Ukraine piece up within the next few days, which should give it at least two weeks’ exposure before the G7. That said, don’t hesitate to post any thoughts on purely philosophical issu…
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( Comments for Policy of Truth ) Comment on Teaching Machiavelli in Palestine by Irfan Khawaja
Just gave the paper: three questions I got from the ISME audience; I’ll lay out answers when I get a chance. (1) What’s the MacIntyre connection? (I had prefaced the paper by saying that while I don’t explicitly mention MacIntyre in i…
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(Pixie Trix Comix) Pixie Trix Comix – Lovely dress
New comic!Today’s News: Missed out on The Art of Ménage à 3 Kickstarter campaign?Get it via InDemand at Indiegogo: https://igg.me/at/artofma3/x/27564548#/Want printed books or swag? Check out our store! https://pixietrixcomixs…
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(Our World in Data) How does the land use of different electricity sources compare?
All energy production takes up land – whether it’s for a power plant, or to dig minerals out of the ground. Which sources use the most land, and which use it most efficiently?
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( Comments for Policy of Truth ) Comment on resenting you, rationally by mlyoung57
In reply to Irfan Khawaja. The general question is how to characterize the sense in which one is rational in inferring Q from [P implies Q] and P, when one lacks sufficient evidence for either or both of believing that P or believing that P implies Q (…
Got any book recommendations?