June 2023 – PHILOSOPHICAL EGGS

231. Peter Simpson’s critique of Mill’s harm principle

J.S. Mill (1806-1873) John Stuart Mill, in his classic book On Liberty (1859), offers one of the most enduring principles in political philosophy. This principle has come to be known as the harm principle and it is a widely embraced principle in… Read more ›

June 28, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Morality, Political Theory, Uncategorized

Harm Principle, John Stuart Mill, Peter Simpson, Political Illiberalism, tyranny

230. A few notes on Ockham’s Razor

One of the more enduring and influential principles of explanation is associated with the medieval philosopher William of Ockham (c 1280-1349) and is widely known as “Ockham’s Razor.” This principle prescribes that, if we are confronted with competing explanations that… Read more ›

June 23, 2023 2 Comments

Dwight Goodyear

Truth

Ockham's Razor, principles of explanation

229. Is consent really everything when it comes to sexual morality?

When it comes to sexual morality many hold the liberal view that consent between adults is everything. Once we have consenting adults then sexual activity is moral. Violations of consent are immoral. This short and entertaining video presents a helpful… Read more ›

June 23, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Morality

Aquinas, perversion, Roger Scruton; sexual desire, sexual morality, Thomas Nagel

228. A dilemma for Kant and possible solutions

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argued that the phenomenal world we experience – the world of space and time with unified objects that are causally related – is the outcome of our minds giving form to sense data. Or, to use his… Read more ›

June 23, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Morality, The Soul

Kant's theory of knowledge

227. Suggestions for incorporating ethics into criminal justice curriculums

In the last few years the police have been under scrutiny like never before and many criminal justice reforms are currently underway. One of the many areas of such reform is ethical reform. Over the past year I served as… Read more ›

June 23, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Morality

Criminal justice reform

226. A practical use for syllogisms

Logic is the study of arguments. But in logic an argument is not a disagreement. Rather, it is a set of statements that are given in support of another statement. The supporting statements are called premises and the statement that… Read more ›

June 23, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Truth

arguments, logic, non-arguments, syllogisms

225. Plato and Holst on Beauty

Venus is the Roman name for the Greek Aphrodite, the Goddess of beauty. For Plato, the Beautiful Itself is transcendent, not itself in the physical world, and yet can be detected in the world. Our capacity to detect it reminds… Read more ›

June 18, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Aesthetics, Love, Metaphysics, The Soul

Beauty, Holst, Plato, The Planets, Venus Bringer of Peace

224. Clive Bell’s explanation for intrinsic value

Clive Bell (1881-1964) We all value things: people, places, animals, things, and so on. When we think about the nature of our valuing we discover that we value some things instrumentally – we see them as a means to an… Read more ›

June 12, 2023

Dwight Goodyear

Uncategorized

Bloomsbury Group, Clive Bell, formalism, intrinsic value

PHILOSOPHICAL EGGS

YOLKS OF WISDOM FROM DWIGHT GOODYEAR

Monthly Archives: June 2023

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231. Peter Simpson’s critique of Mill’s harm principle

230. A few notes on Ockham’s Razor

229. Is consent really everything when it comes to sexual morality?

228. A dilemma for Kant and possible solutions

227. Suggestions for incorporating ethics into criminal justice curriculums

226. A practical use for syllogisms

225. Plato and Holst on Beauty

224. Clive Bell’s explanation for intrinsic value