But what is science, and how does it work? Is it unique in its approach to making sense of the world? Does it progress in a straightforward way? Does it aim to give us a truthful description of realit...

What is philosophy? The question is itself a philosophical question. This essay surveys some answers. #philosophy #whatisphilosophy #definingphilosophy

YouTube video by Nathan Nobis

Recent additions to the Heap of Links... A free online pamphlet with 25 pieces of valuable advice for your college students -- "The College Success Rulebook" by Nathan Nobis “When I asked [the student...

Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools K-12 educators are under increasing pressure to use—and have students use—a wide range of AI tools. (The term “AI” is used loosely here, just as it is by man...

The College Success Rulebook: Practical Advice for College and Beyond

Do you take time to teach your lower level students basic student skills? How do you do it? Increasingly, I've had students who don't seem to know how to take notes during class. Or know that they sho...

Many philosophers have argued that it’s usually morally wrong to raise and kill animals for food, and buy and consume animal-based food products. This essay introduces some of the most influential arg...

If homosexuality is wrong, there should be a good reason to believe that. Likewise, if homosexuality is not wrong, there should be a good reason to believe that. This essay reviews some of the most…

Theories of racism try to answer these questions by trying to identify the essence of racism, the unifying and fundamental feature(s) of all racist things that explains why they are racist. This essay...

The ability to understand others’ beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions, and moods is called mindreading. This essay introduces issues in the study of mindreading, the main theories of mindreading, a...

Ethical non-cognitivists argue that ethical judgments are, strictly speaking, not beliefs: they are expressions of emotions, or commands, or expressions of approval or some other non-cognitive mental state. This essay introduces this view in metaethics.

An introduction to pragmatic encroachment, the view that the pragmatic or practical stakes of a belief can make a difference to whether that belief is justified or known.

Author: Annaleigh Curtis Categories: Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics Word Count: 990 Editor’s Note: This essay is the first in a three-part series on the topic of...

An artificial intelligence or “AI” would be an entity that thinks or acts like an average human being—or even surpasses the average human being in cognitive abilities—yet is a machine or computer prog...

There are many topics related to law that philosophers study. This essay provides an overview of common topics in philosophy of law.

An introduction to the concept of indoctrination or what it is to indoctrinate someone, and whether that's problematic or bad or not.

A successful theory of justice must explain why clear injustices are unjust and help us resolve current disputes. John Rawls (1921-2002) was a Harvard philosopher best known for his A Theory of Justic...

An introduction to W.K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief.”

Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time

배심원 다수의 결정으로 피고인이 유죄라고 (또는 무죄라고) 평결을 내린 상황을 가정해 보자.[역주1] 그들이 올바른 평결에 도달했을 가능성은 얼마나 될까? 프랑스 철학자 콩도르세(Marquis de Condorcet, 1743-1794)는 이 문제에 대해 수학적으로 정확한 답을 얻을 수 있음을 보여 주었다. 이것은 “콩도르세의 배심원 정리”(Condorce...

What is philosophy? The question is itself a philosophical question. This essay surveys some answers. #philosophy #whatisphilosophy #definingphilosophy

This essay introduces the Divine Command Theory of ethics, that wrong actions are wrong because God forbids them and right actions are right because God commands them, and the most important responses...

Many say that we should make society more equal. But what should we equalize? This essay explains two of the most important ones: equality of outcome and equality of opportunity.

This essay introduces the Divine Command Theory of ethics, that wrong actions are wrong because God forbids them and right actions are right because God commands them, and the most important responses...

"Misogyny" refers to systems that uphold gender-based oppression against women and girls. What those systems are, and how they operate, is a subject of philosophical debate. Here we explain two promin...

When we talk about living things, we often describe their parts as if they have purposes or goals or functions. Explanations like these are called teleological: they explain biological features in ter...

Nathan Nobis. Nobis, Nathan. Teaching Philosophy. 1000-Word Philosophy. Animals and Ethics 101.

Tragic art is creative work that depicts the painful and catastrophic aspects of life. This essay summarizes German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) theory of why we enjoy tragic art.

This essay introduces some of the core philosophical issues about atheism: what it is, how and why people accept atheism, and the relationships between atheism and meaning in life and ethics.

This essay provides an overview of these various types of reasons for affirming theism or atheism.

A response to Mehdi Hasan

People sometimes say that judgments about what’s true, what’s ethical, what others find beautiful or aesthetically pleasing, and more are "subjective." What does “subjective” really mean? Are judgment...