Bill Maher and Donald Trump Bill Maher gave an unexpected report of his dinner with Donald Trump. The president, according to the comedian, was gracious, warm, undogmatic, and quite different from the person we see all the time on television. Bill seemed to think the real Donald was the one he had dinner with not […]
Skepticism and the Mind-Body Problem It is sometimes illuminating to compare disparate areas of philosophy in order to find shared patterns, e.g., ethics and mathematics. I will do the same with respect to skepticism and the mind-body problem. These two problems have a similar structure and arise from similar origins, surprising as that may seem. […]
On Knowledge, Consciousness, and Philosophy Some philosophers have maintained that the proper subject of philosophy is thought. The idea is not wide of the mark (better than the thesis that philosophy is about language), but it is surely a mischaracterization. For it can hardly be true that philosophy is concerned with false thought, or incoherent […]
Immigration and Deportation When the European settlers arrived on the American continent four hundred years ago, they did not enter the country legally. The native inhabitants did not give them permission to enter or to stay permanently. I don’t know if the natives had any laws prohibiting entry unless it was formally granted; they may […]
A Problem About Mysteries What is the natural history of mystery? When did human beings first feel a sense of mystery, and what mystery came first? We don’t know, but presumably there is a fact of the matter. Is there a logical order here—with mysteries ranked according to their subject matter? So, consider a time […]
American Intelligence America is not a very intelligent country. I take it this does not need much arguing. The question is why. I think it is because America is young. The intelligence of a country does not arrive overnight; it takes centuries, millennia. It is hard won, a struggle. It is passed down the generations—not […]
Evil and Plasticity It used to be held, with some vehemence, that what is bad or evil in human behavior is derived from our “animal nature”: aggression, uncontrolled sexuality, greed, lack of personal hygiene. We must not give in to our animal tendencies; we must cultivate something called “civilization”. We must “rise above” animal instinct […]
Ducks When I first started skateboarding in December 2024, I used to see a mother duck and her ducklings every day. There were seven of them, evidently just born. With the passing weeks they grew and grew. The mother clearly recognized me as time went by and became less afraid for her family. I always […]
Facts In 2012 the University of Miami accused me of failure to report a romantic relationship. It is true that I did not report a romantic relationship, and it is also true that failure so to report is against the rules. But I was not having a romantic relationship under any normal definition, so there […]
Epistemic Necessity and the Self Consider the two statements, “This table necessarily exists” and “I necessarily exist”, where “necessarily” is construed epistemically (“I could not be wrong that”). The former is clearly false, the latter apparently true. Why is the former false? It is false because I could be hallucinating or dreaming or otherwise under […]