Tag Archives: philosophy

Causation

Posted on July 30, 2016 by

During Michaelmas (Autumn) Term 2016 I gave a series of lectures on causation. This is a fascinating subject. Causation is one of the most fundamental relationship most of us ever deal with. We have myriad causal beliefs, so fundamental we … Continue reading →

Posted in Podcasts, The Causation Lectures | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

What is Existence?

Posted on July 30, 2016 by

  You can’t get a question more basic than: what is existence? Presumably existence isn’t a thing (an individual), so it must be a property of things. Surely indeed it must be a property of everything! But we can’t experience … Continue reading →

Posted in Monthly Conundrums, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

Disability Rights

Posted on May 27, 2016 by

The last weekend school of the academic year was entitled Disability and the Right to Life: Would the Disabled be better off Dead? This got us off to a rather bad start – lots of people objected to the words … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Drones, Robots and the Ethics of Armed Conflict in the 21st Century

Posted on October 28, 2015 by

Wow! Did you know there are machines out there capable, once programmed, of searching out their target, and delivering their lethal ‘payloads’ without further human intervention? In other words the ‘decision’ to kill belongs to the machine itself. Alex Leveringhaus … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Monthly Conundrums | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Early Modern Texts

Posted on September 27, 2015 by

This month’s featured website is Early Modern Texts.  This wonderful websites hosts a number of classical (and more modern) books and papers rewritten in such a way that they are easier for the modern reader to understand. The site was started … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Featured website | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Causation – a Philosophical Question

Posted on March 24, 2015 by

What do we mean when we say something like ‘the death of my cat caused me great sorrow’? How should we understand such a statement? And what sort of truth-maker makes such a statement true? The first question is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Monthly Conundrums | Tagged , , , , , | 29 Comments

Automated Robotic Weapons

Posted on January 30, 2015 by

In the House of Commons there are two red lines separating the two sides of the House. The lines are two sword-lengths apart. They are there to underline the fact that, in the House, disputes must be solved by discussion … Continue reading →

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Bryan Magee’s Interview Series

Posted on January 9, 2015 by

This month’s featured website is Bryan Magee’s series of video discussions with great philosophers on great philosophers: They might seem a little dated to modern viewers. But the great thing about history of philosophy is that it dates well: the things that these philosophers say … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Featured website | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Korsgaard’s third lecture: Legal Rights for Animals

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

Claim: Animals have the right to be treated only in ways that are compatible with their good. Q: Why do animals have this right? A: Because animals co-own the world with us. Like us they have the right to ‘be … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Korsgaard Lecture Two: The Moral Standing of Animals

Posted on December 6, 2014 by

Kant is usually interpreted as arguing that the duties we take ourselves to have to animals are in fact duties we have to ourselves: if we mistreat animals we brutalise ourselves – we shouldn’t do this so we shouldn’t mistreat … Continue reading →

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