Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. I just ordered take-out at a restaurant. The woman taking my order ended the call by saying, “Oh, and I just want to remind you that we’re a cash-only establishment!” I love that use of “remind,”…

In reply to djr. I’m sympathetic to your point, but no one is better off in Support. LikeLike

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. One tension of my line of work is being user friendly while also answering strong objections to my institution’s basic educational philosophy. There is, let us say, a tension between responding to objections honestly a…

[…] ← McCormick-Taber Seminar in Philosophy Redux […] LikeLike

This post is a summary of chapter 1 of George Sher’s Desert, keyed to session 1 of the MTSP Seminar on Philosophy. For background, read this post. The Preface of George Sher’s Desert begins with a statement of the obvious: the concept of moral desert is central to moral judgment and deliberation, and yet (at…

In reply to djr. No one really knows how easily vaccinated people can be infected once the vaccine itself starts to lose efficacy. And no one really knows how long it is before it starts to lose efficacy. We’re now starting to witness a rise in b…

In reply to mlyoung57. That’s helpful, though I’m still uncertain about a few points. You write that your objection is that “contractualism (or at least contractualism of a certain sort) confuses (a) what, in various contexts, we wou…

In reply to djr. That’s true of most people. I aim to be maximally user friendly, something I now excel at, since I work in Support for a major corporation. LikeLike

I’m glad to hear that I don’t have to know anything about the Zoom discussion to contribute. I operate more effectively when I’m not expected to know anything. LikeLike

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. Vaccinated people may spread the virus if they get infected, which one recent study found had happened to less than 0.1% of the vaccinated in the US (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/breakthrough-covid-cases-least-1…