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The Toxic Legacy of Machiavelli’s The Prince 2014-04-30
“…if a Prince succeeds in establishing and maintaining his authority, the means will always be judged honourable and be approved by every one.” (Chapter XVIII) Founded on the above dubious moral axiom, which may be translated as, The end justifies the means (A), in the 16th century Niccolò Machiavelli formulates the classic dissertation on how […]
Philip Jonkers
Killing Iraqi Civilians, Like a Video Game – 2007 Baghdad Civil Massacre Perpetrated by Trigger Happy US Troops (Wikileaks) 2010-04-20
Short Version Long Version Related Reading: Killing Baghdad civilians and Reuters journos from the air! Neo-Cons Defend Massacre Of Iraqi Journalists, Children Attack Video Reveals Why Pentagon Wanted To “Destroy” Wikileaks In early April Wikileaks released into the public domain specific unreleased footage documenting a tragic event that could be considered as a severe incrimination […]
Philip Jonkers
Dark Knight (2008) – Excusing the Rude & Stoic Strongman Crime Fighter 2010-03-24
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ – What is Predictive Programming? – Alan Watt – Predictive Programming; Theory and Practice – Vyzygoth Interviews Phillip and Paul Collins – Invoking the Beyond (Predictive Programming) A decent synopsis can be read on the corresponding Wikipedia page. Police State/Martial Law Scenery Let’s start with the police state scenery shown in the movie: Not […]
Philip Jonkers
Bill Gates Admits Vaccines Are Used for Human Depopulationx 2010-03-01
Bill Gates Admits Vaccines Are Used for Human Depopulation In the video above are two short excerpts from a recently filmed TED presentation (Feb 2010) by none other than Bill “Microsoft” Gates. At the heart of Gates’ address lies the central Global Warming dogma, which dictates that Co2 emitted by human beings are the primary […]
Philip Jonkers
Robocop (1987) – Promoting the Militarization of Police 2010-02-11
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093870/ – What is Predictive Programming? – Alan Watt – Predictive Programming; Theory and Practice – Vyzygoth Interviews Phillip and Paul Collins – Invoking the Beyond (Predictive Programming) A decent synopsis can be read on the corresponding Wikipedia page. According to a Police magazine, “Police officers working in patrol vehicles, dressed in urban tactical gear […]
Philip Jonkers
Some questions regarding Mary K. Baxter’s “A Divine Revelation of Hell” 2010-01-14
From divinerevelations.info we read: Mary Katherine Baxter was chosen by God to let the world know of the REALITY of Hell. Jesus Christ appeared to Mary Baxter on 40 consecutive nights and took Mary on a tour of Hell and Heaven. She walked, with Jesus, through the horrors of Hell and talked with many people. […]
Philip Jonkers
Commentary to the “What is Ego?” Video 2010-01-13
What is Ego? (Andrew Cohen) Self-confidence can only be regarded as an attribute of the ego if the ego uses it to put other people down and tries to feel better than other people. This particular manifestation of self-confidence is called pride. On the other hand, if self-confidence is used to humbly tow other people […]
Philip Jonkers
Is it “Love vs Hate” or “Love vs Fear”? 2009-12-16
In this short blog I examine the question which is a more fundamental antagonist of love: fear or hate. Hate is a strong aversive emotion connected to the subject or object of hate. The strength of hate derives from a former affection or love for that subject or object. In other words, what is hated […]
Philip Jonkers
The Downside of Talking People Down 2009-12-16
There’s a risk involved in talking people down or acts of depreciation in general. If you speak negative about a certain person you’ll likely generate feelings of guilt towards that person, although the strength of these feelings depends on whether one believes that person deserves it or not. If there’s no intention of reconciliation, upon […]
Philip Jonkers
When Does Psychopathy Flourish? (Musings on Psychopathy II) 2009-12-03
“Insanity – a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.” R.D. Laing What is a psychopath? Etymology: Psychopath psyche 1647, “animating spirit,” from L. psyche, from Gk. psykhe “the soul, mind, spirit, breath, life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body” (personified as Psykhe, the lover of Eros), akin […]
Philip Jonkers

Vagueness and moral obligation 2022-10-01
It sure seems like there is vagueness in moral obligation. For instance, torture of the innocent is always wrong, making an innocent person’s life mildly unpleasant for a good cause is not always wrong, and in between we can run a Sorites sequence. What view could a moral realist have about this? Here are four […]
The structure of morality 2022-09-29
In physics, we hope for the following unification: there is a small set of simple laws, and all the rest of physics derives logically from these laws and the contingencies of the arrangement of stuff. In ethics, a similar ideal has often manifested itself. While I have a hope for the ideal being realized in […]
A strict propriety argument for probabilism without any continuity assumptions 2022-09-25
Here’s an accuracy-theoretic argument for probabilism (the thesis that only probabilities are rationally admissible credences) on finite spaces that does not make any continuity assumptions on the scoring rule. I will assume all credence functions take values on [0,1]. All probabilities are rationally admissible credences. If any non-probabilities are rationally admissible, then all non-probabilities satisfying […]
Discontinuous epistemic utilities 2022-09-23
I used to take it for granted that it’s reasonable to make epistemic utilities be continuous functions of credences. But this is not so clear to me right now. Consider a proposition really central to a person’s worldview, such as: life has (or does not have) a meaning God does (or does not) exist we […]
Video: Three Mysteries of the Concrete 2022-09-22
Alexander Pruss, “Three mysteries of the concrete: Causation, mind and normativity”, Christian Philosophy 2022, online, Cracow, Poland, September, 2022.
More on proportionality in Double Effect and prevention 2022-09-19
In my previous post, I discuss cases where someone is doing an evil for the sake of preventing significantly worse goods—say, murdering a patient to save four others with the organs from the one—and note that a straightforward reading of the Principle of Double Effect’s proportionality condition seems to forbid one from stopping that evil. […]
Proportionality in Double Effect and prevention cases 2022-09-16
Suppose you are visiting a hospital and you see Bob, a nurse, sneaking into Alice’s hospital room. Unnoticed, you look at what is going on, and you see that Bob is about to add a lethal drug to Alice’s IV, a drug that would undetectably kill Alice while leaving her organs intact. You recall with […]
Consent and inner acts 2022-09-15
Some people think that a constituent (whole or partial) of consent is some sort of inner mental act of agreement with the thing one consents to. Here is an argument against this: A request or command does not require an inner mental act of agreement. Someone who requests or commands something necessarily consents to its […]
"Pun not intended" 2022-09-13
Some people think that an outcome of an action foreseen with practical certainty is also intended. If so, then pretty much every case where someone writes “pun not intended” is a case where what they write is false. For one foresees with practical certainty that by disseminating the message one is punning.
Humeans laws and constants 2022-09-12
On Mill-Ramsey-Lewis accounts of laws of nature, the laws are the propositions that best balance informativeness and brevity (in a language that cuts nature precisely at the joints). Now, the laws of nature include constants, such as the fine-structure constant whose current best measured value is 1/137.035999206. Now, we might be lucky, and it might […]
Christian panpsychism 2022-09-08
I’ve just realized that there is something rather attractive about panpsychism from a Christian point of view. All things God has created are in the image of God. Panpsychism allows them to be in the image of God in a very concrete way: by being minded. There seems to be something fitting about all things […]
Motivating panpsychism 2022-09-08
There is something attractive about an ontology where all the properties are powers, but it seems objectionable. First, a power is partly defined by the properties it can produce. But if these in turn are powers, then we have a vicious regress or circularity. At the same time, mental properties do not seem to be […]
Trolleys and chaos 2022-09-06
Suppose that determinism is true and Alice is about to roll a twenty-sided die to determine which of twenty innocent prisoners to murder. There is nothing you can do to stop her. You are in Alice’s field of view. Now, a die roll, even if deterministic, is very sensitive to the initial conditions. A small […]
Pain as a category 2022-09-03
I’m getting convinced that pain, or even physical pain, is a category that does not cut nature at the joints. Consider that the taste of mouldy bread is more unpleasant than a typical vaccination jab, but the jab is physically painful while the taste is not. So neither are all physical unpleasantnesses pains, nor is […]
A tale of two membranes 2022-08-31
Suppse that I had a device that would cause a mild but sensible vibration in the nasal membranes of the person I pointed it at. Absent consent or a significant reason, it would be wrong to use this device on a stranger. But the same is not true if we replace nasal membranes with the […]
The afterlife of humans and animals 2022-08-30
I’ve been thinking a bit about the afterlife for non-human animals. The first thought is that there is a relevant difference between human and non-human animals in terms of flourishing. There is something deeply incomplete about the eighty or so years a human lives. The incompleteness of our earthly life is a qualitative incompleteness: it […]
A Thomistic argument for the possibility of an afterlife for animals 2022-08-29
Accidents are more intimately dependent on substance than substantial forms on matter. If (1) is true and God can make accidents survive without the substance, then God can make forms survive without matter. If God can make forms survive without matter, then God can ensure life after death for animals by making their forms survive […]
Full conditional probabilities and the Axiom of Choice 2022-08-26
Here’s a claim that turns out to be equivalent to the Axiom of Choice: Given any non-empty set Ω and a collection M of [0,∞]-valued finitely additive measures on the powerset of Ω such that for any non-empty E ⊆ Ω there is a μ ∈ M with 0
Collapse and unitarity 2022-08-23
Quantum collapse is often said to “violate unitarity”. Either I’m confused or this phrasing is misleading or both.A bounded linear operator P on a Hilbert space H is said to be unitary iff it is surjective and preserves inner products. But as I understand it, quantum collapse is not even an operator. An operator on […]
Intending to lower the probability of one's success 2022-08-23
It seems a paradigm of irrationality to intend an event E in an action A and yet take the action to lower the probability of E. But it’s not irrational if my principle that intending a specification of something implies intending that which it is a specification of. Suppose that Alice is in a bicycle […]

भगवद गीता के अनुसार पापों से कैसे छुटकारा पाएं 2022-03-19
हिंदू धर्म में, पाप आमतौर पर अपने द्वारा किये गए गलत कर्मो के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जाने वाला शब्द है। पाप और कुछ नहीं बल्कि ऐसे कार्य करना है जो ईश्वर की इच्छा के विरुद्ध हों, या प्रकृति के नियमों या ईश्वर द्वारा दिए गए शास्त्रों के नियमों के विरुद्ध हों। अब हम अपने पापों से […]
माया क्या है, आओ समझे। What is Maya, Let us Understand (In Hindi & English) 2022-03-07
हिंदी में:माया : उस दिन मेरा एक मित्र दार्शनिक रूप से बात कर रहा था और मुझसे कह रहा था कि यह सारी दुनिया भ्रम है, वास्तविकता में इसका कोई अस्तित्व नहीं है। हम जो कुछ भी देख रहे हैं वह सिर्फ जादू आदि है। मैं उसे सुनता रहा। फिर मैंने उसे बस अपनी आँखें बंद […]
God hears these Prayers, प्रार्थना जो भगवान सुनता है 2021-10-06
Prayer is an act of addressing the God with devotion. Prayer can be done during the worship or can be done just silently in our mind. Through prayer we have a personal experience & an intimate connection with our loving God. If we pray to God with sincerity then He shall answer to our prayers […]
How to Motivate Yourself in depressed situations - Bhagwad Gita Perspective 2021-10-01
This article deals with how you can Motivate Yourself in depressed situations of life. When you get depressed in life then its very difficult and frustrating to cope with it. With proper guidance, you can come out of depression & eventually can come out of it. To come out of depression shall not be easy but you […]
Complete Universe exists in God 2021-09-25
In Hinduism Lord Krishna is "true" Supreme Being and creator of the universe. Lord Krishna has said it many times in His discourse of "Bhagwad Gita". Lord Krishna is the ultimate God. The entire universe exists within Him."Lord Krishna / God is omnipresent and is in every atom of this Universe". But how God is there everywhere […]
Pray to God & God will answer your Prayer 2021-09-24
All the religions of the world believe in one God. We all pray to God with different types of prayers. Prayer is basically an act of addressing the God for the purpose of worship. Prayer is a way of having a personal experience and intimate connection with our loving God, through which He listens silently […]
Lets thank God for what we have in Life 2021-09-23
Lets thank God for what we have in Life. Lets be thankful to God for, whatever, we have received in our life from Him. Let us learn to appreciate what we have in life. Listen to above musical video which thanks God in every way & its lyrics are very beautiful.You should appreciate, whatever, you […]
Peace of Mind as per Bhagwad Gita 2021-09-22
"duhkhesv anudvigna-manahsukhesu vigata-sprhahvita-raga-bhaya-krodhah sthita-dhir munir ucyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 56) "Sri Krishna said: One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind."दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः।वीतरागभयक्रोधः
Whole World exists in God 2020-08-24
राम वही जो रमता सकल जहान Above Hindi line meaning is that "God is omnipresent and is in every atom of this Universe". But how God is there everywhere in the Universe?Meaning of omnipresent is that one who is present everywhere. God is one who in it's un-manifest, unseen, subtle aspect is always present all around us. This […]
Bhagwad Gita can Change Your Life Completely 2020-05-30
Reading Bhagwad Gita can Change Your Life completely. If Bhagwad Gita becomes a part & parcel of your life then it shall totally transform your life. It not only shall guide you through your life journey but shall also shape the way you live your life. If you have been reading the Bhagwad Gita, then it […]
Quotes from Bhagwat Gita on Soul आत्मा पर भगवत गीता के उद्धरण (Quotes) 2020-05-16
Here are some of the Quotes from Bhagwat Gita on Soul. Description of Soul is done beautifully by Lord Krishna in Chapter 2 of Bhagwat Gita. Here below read that illustration in detail. नीचे भागवद गीता के कुछ आत्मा पर प्रसिद्ध उद्धरण (Quotes) हैं : "na tv-evaham jatu nasam na tvam neme janadhipah na chaiva na bhavisyamah sarve vayam atah param" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 12) "Sri
People who do Bad Karmas are Punished surely by the God at one time or the another 2018-09-16
Sometimes we feel that those people who do Good Karmas are not rewarded & those who do Bad Karmas are not Punished by God. But it is not so. Domain of God runs for Many lives & it is not that a person is not punished by God for his bad Karmas. So here are […]
Beautiful Mobile App for Ekadashi Vrats 2018-09-16
One of the Young Creator Mr. Raghav Sharma has developed a Beautiful Mobile App for Ekadashi Vrats to be performed by Hindus all across the world. This App is very useful for the people who are interested in regular Ekadashi Fasts. The links for the said App can be found below & people interested can download […]
Greatness of Chapter Eighteen of Bhagwat Gita 2018-04-08
Here below is explained the Greatness of Chapter Eighteen of Bhagwat Gita. Read the story below to see, how all the sinful reactions are destroyed by just reading the Chapter 18 of the Bhagwat Gita. "Lord Siva said; “My dear Parvati, Now, listen to the glories of the Eighteenth Chapter of Srimad Bhagwat Gita, which […]
कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन - Meaning 2018-04-01
"कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन । मां कर्मफलहेतुर्भू: मांते संङगोस्त्वकर्मणि" ।। (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47) "श्री कृष्ण भगवान ने अर्जुन से कहा: आप को अपने निर्धारित कर्तव्य का पालन करने का अधिकार है, लेकिन आप कभी कर्म फल की इच्छा से कर्म मत करो (कर्म फल देने का अधिकार सिर्फ ईश्वर को है)। […]
Greatness of Chapter Seventeen of Bhagwat Gita 2018-04-01
Here below is explained the Greatness of Chapter Seventeen of Bhagwat Gita. Read the story below to see, how all the sinful reactions are destroyed by just reading the Chapter 17 of the Bhagwat Gita. “Lord Siva said, “My dear Parvati, Now, kindly hear the nectarian glories of the Seventeenth Chapter of Srimad Bhagwat Gita. […]
Greatness of Chapter Sixteen of Bhagwat Gita 2018-03-25
Here below is explained the Greatness of Chapter Sixteen of Bhagwat Gita. Read the story below to see, how all the sinful reactions are destroyed by just reading the Chapter 16 of the Bhagwat Gita. “Lord Siva said, “My dear Parvati, I will now tell you the glories of the Sixteenth Chapter of Srimad Bhagwat […]
Greatness of Chapter Fifteen of Bhagwat Gita 2018-03-18
Here below is explained the Greatness of Chapter Fifteen of Bhagwat Gita. Read the story below to see, how all the sinful reactions are destroyed by just reading the Chapter 15 of the Bhagwat Gita. “Lord Siva said, “My dear Parvati, now I will tell you the glories of the Fifteenth Chapter of the Srimad […]
Greatness of Chapter Fourteen of Bhagwat Gita 2018-03-11
Here below is explained the Greatness of Chapter Fourteen of Bhagwat Gita. Read the story below to see, how all the sinful reactions are destroyed by just reading the Chapter 14 of the Bhagwat Gita. “Lord Siva said “Oh, Parvati kindly hear from Me the glories of the Fourteenth Chapter of the Srimad Bhagwat Gita, […]
कभी जीवन में घमंड मत करना 2018-03-05
महाभारत के युद्ध में अर्जुन और कर्ण के बीच घमासान चल रहा था । अर्जुन का तीर लगने पे कर्ण का रथ 25-30 हाथ पीछे खिसक जाता , और कर्ण के तीर से अर्जुन का रथ सिर्फ 2-3 हाथ । लेकिन श्री कृष्ण थे की कर्ण के वार की तारीफ़ किये जाते, अर्जुन की तारीफ़ […]

The End 2020-06-01
Back in 2011, a group of academic philosophers started a blog called “Bleeding Heart Libertarians.” The idea behind that blog was simple, but also somewhat vague in terms of its... The post The End appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Matt Zwolinski
Anti-Competition as the Incel Mentality 2020-06-01
Observe: Incel: “Stacy choose Chad over me. I have the right to retaliate by killing Stacy and/or Chad.” Michael Fett, a guy on Facebook, justifying Guitar Center being looted: “Guitar... The post Anti-Competition as the Incel Mentality appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
The AAAS Agrees with Magness and Me 2020-06-01
New report on the state of the humanities: https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2020-05/hds3_the_state_of_the_humanities_in_colleges_and_universities.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0lCu4KOkSq62KnkXdaOOaQtMBkxJN6affH61kgOctQZks7GsEJqzulHow It concurs with what Phil and I say in Cracks and our other published work: 1. Adjuncts are not replacing full-time... The post The AAAS Agrees with Magness and Me appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
An Excerpt from *When All Else Fails* 2020-05-30
Here are the concluding paragraphs of When All Else Fails. Over the past eight chapters, we’ve examined a wide range of arguments which attempted to show that government agents enjoy... The post An Excerpt from *When All Else Fails* appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
Is It Time for Private Punishment? 2020-05-29
When All Else Fails is about defensive actions, not punishment. If someone had justly and rightly shot the cops who murdered George Floyd, they would be trying to stop them... The post Is It Time for Private Punishment? appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
The Two Big News Cases and Philosophy 2020-05-27
Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd by crushing his neck with a knee while he lay prostrate, helpless, and handcuffed. This is precisely the kind of case When All Else... The post The Two Big News Cases and Philosophy appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
How Government Leaders Violated Their Epistemic Duties During the SARS-CoV-2 Crisis 2020-05-20
Written with Eric Winsberg and Chris Surprenant, forthcoming in The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. Abstract: In spring 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, world leaders imposed severe restrictions... The post How Government Leaders Violated Their Epistemic Duties During the SARS-CoV-2 Crisis appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
What Is Public Choice? 2020-05-14
Here’s some silliness from Henry Farrell. Why is public choice specifically unhelpful here? Rather than starting from the many definitions of public choice offered by its enemies, I’ll begin with... The post What Is Public Choice? appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
Likeville Podcast about the Quarantine 2020-05-12
Here. Eric Winsberg, Chris Surprenant, and I talk to John Faithful Hamer about the quarantine, precautionary principles, political incompetence, civil liberties, the problems with the data and models policy-makers relied... The post Likeville Podcast about the Quarantine appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan
How Did the Great Recession Affect Academic Employment? 2020-05-12
Here are the total number of people employed as full-time assistant professors in the United States over the past 20 years, according to the US Department of Education. The figure... The post How Did the Great Recession Affect Academic Employment? appeared first on Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
Jason Brennan

A big day for Brazil 2022-10-02
For all my friends there, I dearly hope the fascist loses on the first round, and that he goes more peacefully than our monster-child.
Brian Leiter
Sleepwalking into Armageddon: Russia, Ukraine, and nuclear weapons continued 2022-10-02
I would urge readers to at least look at comments #76 and after on the earlier, extremely informative thread about Russia, Ukraine, and nuclear weapons. This is a very grave situation, and I now think it's highly likely Russia will...
Brian Leiter
Typepad, the blog service provider, was out from yesterday evening until midday today, more or less 2022-10-02
It was a system-wide problem, so all Typepad blogs were down. Apologies for the inconvenience. This was the worst outage in nearly 20 years of using this blog platform, so hopefully it won't happen again.
Brian Leiter
Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Dizzy Man's Band, "Truck Driver," 1970 2022-10-01
Dutch rock band of the 1970s, this decent number comes from their debut album: (Thanks to Dean Rowan for the pointer.)
Brian Leiter
Things are about to get much worse when it comes to Ukraine 2022-10-01
MOVING TO FRONT FOR LAST TIME, ORIGINALLY POSTED SEPT 21--THERE CONTINUES TO BE TIMELY UPDATES AND INTERESTING LINKS AND COMMENTARY ON THE EVOLVING SITUATION Start with this: Russia on Tuesday paved the way for the formal annexation of swathes of...
Brian Leiter
Blast from the past: Gutting on "analytic" and "Continental" philosophy 2022-09-30
Back in 2012.
Brian Leiter
AFA letter to the University of Idaho... 2022-09-30
...after the General Counsel advised faculty that--to comply by an Idaho law prohibiting public employees from promoting abortion--faculty in discussing abortion had "to remain neutral" in classroom discussions. The AFA is plainly correct, and Idaho, which is within the jurisdiction...
Brian Leiter
Survey on disagreement among ethicists 2022-09-30
UPDATED (SEE BELOW) Professor Boespflug asked me to share the following with readers: Jonathan Spelman and Mark Boespflug are empirically measuring consensus and disagreement in ethics and they need your help to do it! They need philosophers--especially ethicists--to complete their...
Brian Leiter
The study of philosophy in law schools, and JD/PhD programs in the U.S. (and elsewhere), 2022 edition 2022-09-29
This follows up on a 2017 post on this topic, which takes as its starting point the 2017 PGR section on the study of philosophy in law schools. Some terminology: by "general jurisprudence," I mean the core philosophical questions about...
Brian Leiter
"A university is not a kindergarten." 2022-09-29
Biologist Jerry Coyne (Chicago) comments on a famous remark of the former UChicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins, who was a strong defender of academic freedom.
Brian Leiter
Lateral moves/retirements (etc.) since the 2021 Philosophical Gourmet Report: 2023 edition 2022-09-29
In addition to the separate posts announcing (generally tenured) faculty moves, I will keep a running list of all lateral moves (and retirements and deaths) not reflected in the faculty lists for the last PGR (some moves that took place...
Brian Leiter
On certainty and uncertainy in our lives 2022-09-29
Philosophers Simon Blackburn (emeritus, North Carolina and Cambridge) and Ruth Chang (Oxford) discuss, along with the owner of IAITV.
Brian Leiter
Blast from the past: "Jewish poker" philosophy 2022-09-28
A classic from 2010.
Brian Leiter
Richard Marshall interviews Eddy Keming Chen (UC San Diego)... 2022-09-28
...at 3:16AM. Reader comments on issues raised in the interview are welcome. (LINK NOW FIXED.)
Brian Leiter
Socialism lite 2022-09-28
This essay excoriates (from the left) what passes for "socialism" in certain circles these days, as reflected in the recent 2022 "Socialism Conference" in Chicago, which even included some philosophers (I missed it, happily). Some excerpts, with some interspersed observations:...
Brian Leiter
Norbert Hornstein (Maryland) on linguistics, rationalism, Chomsky, and more 2022-09-28
The interview continues (earlier). I would be interested in reactions from readers knowledgeable about these issues.
Brian Leiter
Columbia University's US News ranking embarrassment 2022-09-27
The math professor who "blew the whistle" on fake data reporting to USNews.com reveals some rather embarrassing facts here: The public was told for years, for example, that Columbia had a higher proportion of small undergraduate classes (those with fewer...
Brian Leiter
Lateral moves (and retirements etc.) since the 2021 Philosophical Gourmet Report: 2022 edition 2022-09-27
In addition to the separate posts announcing (generally tenured) faculty moves, I will keep a running list of all lateral moves not reflected in the faculty lists for the last PGR (some moves that took place after the last PGR...
Brian Leiter
On addiction...and recovery 2022-09-27
An interview with philosopher and clinician Hanna Pickard (Johns Hopkins) about her quite important work on addiction.
Brian Leiter
Viktor DeSantis's lawyers go for broke: public university curricula are "government speech"! 2022-09-26
If this argument isn't rejected wholesale in court, public universities in Florida are finished (and academic freedom at all public universities may be finished): The State of Florida asserted on Thursday that faculty members’ curricula and in-class instruction at public...
Brian Leiter

My custom bit.ly links 2022-09-25
There is a new feature by bit.ly – they allow 50 such free URLs per registered user each month. A great improvement to their cluttered URLs of the past. I’ll list my custom links here, pages that I often share/cite bit.ly/sabhlok bit.ly/fostercba bit.ly/sabhlokbulleen bit.ly/sabhlokicc https://bit.ly/sabhlokbfn bit.ly/sabhlokdof https://bit.ly/lockdownstudy KEYWORDS SHORT BITLY LINKS
Sanjeev Sabhlok
Gigi Foster’s Voices against lockdowns – (16) 16 September 2022 2022-09-18
Gigi has issued one more Voices Against Lockdowns email on 16 September. I was travelling and have only found time to re-publish it on this blog now. For previous emails from Gigi, follow this link. === Dear all, So much is moving so fast that I’ve deemed an update on a few fronts to be […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
The Gigi Foster Cost Benefit Analysis of Australia’s lockdowns is now available on order as a book 2022-09-10
An email I sent out yesterday: ==== Dear all A few weeks ago I’d shared the Exec Summary of the final GigiFoster CBA, which shows that the harms from lockdowns and border closures in Australia have been at least in the order of 68 times the benefits. Now the full CBA is ready to be ordered […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
Gigi Foster’s Voices against lockdowns – (15) 31 August 2022 2022-08-31
Gigi’s done it again – very diligent record-keeping, these emails will be of great use to future researchers. (The previous – 14th – one). == Dear all, After a refreshing, informative and productive trip to North America, I’m back in Sydney and heartened at the growing evidence that both in the US and in Australia, […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
Lockdowns increase even COVID deaths – a Working Paper by Sanjeev Sabhlok and Jason Gavrilis 2022-08-31
This paper was published a few days ago on IPI’s website: https://indiapolicy.org/2022/08/lockdowns-increase-even-covid-deaths-sanjeev-sabhlok-jason-gavrilis/
Sanjeev Sabhlok
My objections to the APMS letter re: vaccine deaths 2022-08-25
I object to the lies spread by APMS re: vaccines. This is the letter of APMS that I object vigorously to. https://amps.redunion.com.au/covid19_evidence_based_information The letter claims that vaccines are causing major deaths across the world. The reality is entirely different: 1) In Sweden, which had no lockdowns deaths in 2021, there’s a steep decline in mortality […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
Brett Sutton’s advice (15 March 2020 and 11 September 2020) to the Minister for Health recommending a Declaration of the State of Emergency 2022-08-20
I had reason to try to locate Brett Sutton’s 15 March 2020 advice. Unfortunately, it is not readily available via google. But I had extracted and uploaded it here, and his 11 September 2020 advice here. So bringing these two crucial pieces of evidence together, here. DIRECT LINKS TO PDF FILES 15 March 2020 advice […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
The submission to VCAT by 815 Truemans Cabin Hire Pty Ltd – to seek compensation from Victorian government 2022-08-14
Someone’s share this info: === The applicant applied to the secretary of DHHS for compensation and VCAT has been asked to determine if the CHO (Brett Sutton) had sufficient grounds for authorizing the use of emergency and public health risk powers under the PHW Act and, if not, to pay just and reasonable compensation. Brett […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
My position re: Stop North East Link Alliance (SNELA) 2022-08-11
My response to an email received: xx, thanks for this. There was a group called RUANELA that sent me their suggestions last time around (I contested the seat of Menzies). I published my response here: https://www.sabhlokcity.com/2022/05/my-response-to-ruanela-menzies-regarding-the-north-east-link-program/ I’ve advised within the government on a number of infrastructure projects and on public transport – I do believe […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok
My comment on “Indian Democracy at 75: Who Are the Barbarians at the Gate?” 2022-08-08
Someone shared this article and sought my comments: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2022/08/indian-democracy-at-75-who-are-the-barbarians-at-the-gate/ My response might interest some people. ==== Thanks, had a skim through the article. Very comprehensive, and raises some valid points. Two basic facts. First, India’s political parties are entirely socialist. Second, India’s democracy has been flawed since its inception – and that has increasingly gotten worse. […]
Sanjeev Sabhlok

The Very Alien Question of Marriage (from The Stream’s Pastors’ Corner) 2022-03-25
(Also published at The Stream.) What is marriage? What is it for? Why does marriage matter? Ten years ago, those were the hottest questions on the planet. Now they’re … nothing. No one even asks anymore, at least not in public. That’s okay to a certain point: I don’t mind the public debate going silent […]
Tom Gilson
Find Your Authentic Self, or Find an Authentic View of God? 2022-02-08
Everyone’s in a rush to find their “authentic self.” We’re going about it the wrong way, though. We find our true selves by giving up false gods and finding the true God. We’ve missed his reality, however. Even Christians have, in my view. That’s why I say in this message to The River Church in […]
Tom Gilson
Pastors’ Equipping Series: Sample Sermon on Christian Exclusivism vs. Pluralism — Christmas Themed! 2021-12-14
Christians aren’t supposed to say we have the one truth, right? So goes the opinion around our culture, anyway. We’re supposed to be “humble” about our beliefs; to give equal worth and respect to all other beliefs. That’s what culture tells us, but what does God say? Clearly Jesus claims to be the one way, […]
Tom Gilson
Pastors’ Equipping Series: Sample Sermon on the Faith-Science Challenge (Special Focus on the Virgin Birth) 2021-11-05
Faith vs. Science: It feels like David approaching Goliath, with no sling and no stones. Or at least, that’s the way a lot of people want us to feel it. As pastor, you know there’s pressure on Christians to deny the faith in favor “almighty science.” In cooperation with The Stream’s Pastors’ Corner, we offer you a […]
Tom Gilson
Alisa Childers: ‘Reading Through Your Book Was … Exciting’ 2021-10-07
Alisa Childers, gifted speaker, former ZOEgirl singer, and author of the outstanding book Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity, graciously invited me on her podcast to talk about my own book Too Good to Be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality. I really appreciate her words about the […]
Tom Gilson
Pastors’ Equipping Series: A Sample Sermon on Critical Race Theory 2021-09-30
Updated: See the summary explainer article at The Stream! Critical race theory: Could you preach on it in church? Teach it in a small group? How would you approach it? Should you even address it in church? That last question calls for a definite answer yes. It’s too influential, and too much of a false […]
Tom Gilson
So You Think Critical Race Theory Is a Useful Analytical Tool? 2021-09-13
I was with my new friend Howard that afternoon, and he was pumping me with questions about some of my projects so he could do some graphic design work. That’s still in process, and you’ll see the result when we’re done with it. We have a lot of opinions in common, including thoughts on critical […]
Tom Gilson
At Last! Moving Forward Into the Heat to Light Pastors’ Equipping Series! 2021-08-30
The time has come, at last, tell some of the story, and then very soon to launch the new church-equipping initiative that I’ve been building toward for months, or maybe for most of a lifetime. It’s called Heat to Light: Leading Your Church Through Cultural Heat to Spiritual Transformation. (With just one more meeting coming […]
Tom Gilson
Cincinnati Apologetics Conference with Alisa Childers September 10-11! 2021-08-11
I’ll be speaking as well. Kudos to Tim Waugh, pastor of Faith Community United Methodist Church, who wants to be a light for the truth of Christ in his community and among United Methodists! Click for the full-definition flier, downloadable: The post Cincinnati Apologetics Conference with Alisa Childers September 10-11! appeared first on Tom Gilson.
Tom Gilson
Creative Common-Sense Apologetics — Video Here! 2021-07-21
They say you can’t use the Bible to prove the Bible; it’s circular reasoning. Yes. Except… there are exceptions. Valid ones, not fallacious. The Bible actually demonstrates its own reality through its own internal character, along with some general common-sense knowledge about books and literature with which we can compare it. That’s one perspective you’ll […]
Tom Gilson
Update on Pastor Equipping Ministry: ‘Heat to Light: Guiding Your People Through Cultural Conflict to Spiritual Transformation’ 2021-07-01
It’s coming together in ways I never expected, and that’s a good thing. If you’ve been following me here on the blog or the podcast, you may be wondering exactly what it’s going to look like, and when it begins for real. I’ve been calling it “Heat to Light: Guiding Your People Through Cultural Conflict […]
Tom Gilson
Apologists and Pastors Connecting for Ministry: Stories of How You Can Do It 2021-06-26
(Hear more of the story at the Thinking Christian podcast.) Apologists need to connect with pastors, and vice versa. We need each other. Pastors need the best possible understanding of changes in our culture, which apologists are uniquely equipped to offer. Apologists need to learn practical ministry from pastors, and they also need church leadership […]
Tom Gilson
RELEASED TODAY ON KINDLE! Too Good to be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality 2021-06-17
It came a day or two earlier than I expected, so I’m scrambling to catch up — but I’m very excited to announce the release at last on Kindle — of Too Good to be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality. Includes a new preface for 2021! Typically Amazon takes a few days […]
Tom Gilson
Apologists and Pastors, Here’s How We Can Finally Work Together (And We’d Better Get To It!) 2021-06-13
I met a pastor from my home town at a conference a couple years ago, actually a pastors’ pastor, who ministered to dozens of others in our area. I was grateful when he agreed to meet for lunch. As we started in over our chips and salsa, I asked him to tell me his story, […]
Tom Gilson
Pastor, Your Job Is About Cross-Cultural Missions Now. Could You Use Some Help? 2021-06-01
The world has changed, and the pastor's job description must, too. It's cross-cultural missions and ministry now wherever you may be. The post Pastor, Your Job Is About Cross-Cultural Missions Now. Could You Use Some Help? appeared first on Tom Gilson.
Tom Gilson
A Conversation with Gay/Progressive Leader Brandan Robertson 2021-05-10
I had a most interesting conversation on Thursday with Brandan Robertson, who’s a leading spokesman for gay and progressive Christianity, on everything from the character of Jesus, to the nature of the Bible, to Christianity’s connection to slavery. Not much on homosexuality; it wasn’t one of our topics this time. We connected originally through an […]
Tom Gilson
Streaming Live on Thursday: Conversation with LGBT Activist Pastor Brandan Robertson 2021-05-06
Brandan Robertson is a globally prominent gay activist pastor with whom I’ve been exchanging emails over the past couple weeks. It’s been a cordial conversation, and he and I have agreed to move to a live online video conference tomorrow evening. It starts at 7 pm Eastern time, and will be showing live on The […]
Tom Gilson
Heat to Light: Our Lost Moral High Ground, and How to Begin Reclaiming It 2021-05-03
Remember when Christianity held the moral high ground? Maybe not. Depends on how long you’ve been around. It sure isn’t the case now, at least not in the minds of many of our contemporaries. (This post accompanies the Thinking Christian Podcast of the same title.) I’m talking perception here, not reality, but perception is powerful. […]
Tom Gilson
Moving From Heat to Light: Worldviews in Conflict 2021-04-25
(You can listen to this blog post here.) Cultural conflict doesn’t come from just nowhere. Ours has been building for a while. The intensity of it comes out of Westerners’ incredibly diverse worldviews, our way of seeing reality. For much of European history most people shared a more-or-less common worldview, and the same has been […]
Tom Gilson
Heat to Light 2: Grace and Truth 2021-04-14
(This post accompanies my latest podcast, Episode 2-2, Grace and Truth in Heat-to-Light Conversations.) I’m continuing today with my extended series on “Heat to Light: From Cultural Conflict to Spiritual Transformation.” (That title is still a bit in flux, but it’ll settle in soon enough.) Here’s where we’re heading with this. I see three principles […]
Tom Gilson

Value and News in Evidential Decision Theory 2018-05-11
A discussion of what desirabilities in Jeffrey's theory of decision ultimately mean.
Brian Weatherson
Absolute Value 2018-05-11
An objection to the version of Desire as Belief that Stephen Daskall defended in "Absolute Value as Belief".
Brian Weatherson
Over Time, Citations Get More Uneven 2017-05-18
In an earlier post, I compared the distribution of citations within Journal of Philosophy, 1976 and Philosophical Studies, 2009. And I noted that although the two ended up in similar places, they got there in different ways. Journal of Philosophy was largely relying on some hugely cited papers; while the distribution of citations in Philosophical […]
Brian Weatherson
Citations are Getting More Evenly Distributed 2017-05-12
I claimed yesterday that citations within journals are getting more egalitarian. To verify this, I pulled the citation data for two prominent years: The Journal of Philosophy, 1976 and Philosophical Studies, 2009. I couldn’t find an easy way to get just the citations in Arts & Humanities, so this table includes all the citations in […]
Brian Weatherson
Two More Graphs 2017-05-11
Just as a follow up to the previous post, here are the graphs for six more journals. First their citations in the other 31. Then their citations in the whole of Web of Science Arts and Humanities. (Note that this sometimes severely understates how many citations they have elsewhere in the academy, especially for philosophy […]
Brian Weatherson
Changes in Who is Cited 2017-05-11
The dataset of citations I’m looking at starts in 1976. And I can break down not just which journals are cited, but which years of those journals are cited. (And which years they are cited in, but I’m setting aside that data for now.) So as well as asking which journal is the most cited […]
Brian Weatherson
Citation Graphs, One Journal at a Time 2017-05-10
The big graphs I posted earlier have so much information, that much of it gets lost in the mess of lines. So I’ve broken down the data to create a graph just involving each journal’s interactions with the other 31. Here are the graphs. (As always, click on each for a larger image.) British Journal […]
Brian Weatherson
Citation Graphs and Methodology 2017-05-04
Last week I posted some graphs showing how often various journals cite other journals. Here is one of those graphs, just to remind you what they looked like. I didn’t say particularly clearly how I got the data, or even exactly what the graphs meant. So here’s the long methodology post showing how I ended […]
Brian Weatherson
Citations of History Journals 2017-04-27
Yesterday I posted some data about how often journals cite other journals. And one of the things that jumped out was how rarely generalist journals cite various specialist journals. I suggested an inference from that: generalist journals are not as generalist as they are often thought to be. And I think that’s largely correct, and […]
Brian Weatherson
Citation Patterns Across Journals 2017-04-26
I’ve been interested for a while in the different things that get attention in different philosophy journals. Part of what got me interested in this was looking at the ways that different well known articles get cited, or not, in different journals. Below is a table showing how many times (according to Web of Science), […]
Brian Weatherson

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Tom Gilson

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