Tag: philosophy
All the articles with the tag "philosophy".
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Keynes's shorter working week won't arrive by itself
A machine that finishes a job in half the time ought to leave room for somebody to go home. A definition of progress that counts only production has a different instruction: find more work to fill…
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A theory of freedom that ignores rent serves whoever collects it
The rent goes up. A utility sends a shut-off notice. Then a boss changes next week's schedule and expects workers to rearrange their lives. Each message carries the grammar of a command: comply or…
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Human selfishness is a story greed tells about itself
Many arguments against sharing power or wealth rest on the same claim: human beings are selfish by nature. Take away the threat of poverty or the promise of profit, the story goes, and people will…
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Secular life still needs a congregation
There is a hole in the week where church used to be.
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Heaven is a bad answer to a real problem
Death is a problem. It cuts off unfinished lives and takes every future experience a person might have had. Calling that loss harmless empties the word harm until it means pain felt in the moment and…
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Just a machine is not a moral argument
You say thank you to the voice that sets a timer. You apologize to the dresser after walking into it. Nobody thinks the dresser is nursing hurt feelings. The habit still matters, because we do not…
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Calling suffering a plan does not make it one
Suppose a four-year-old child is dying of an incurable cancer. Her pain will end her life before it can teach her anything or prepare her for some later test. Anyone who calls that agony part of a…
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Doubt should be a method, not an identity
Doubt is supposed to help us find the truth. It becomes a trap when we stop asking whether a claim is true and start asking only whether it came from someone we distrust.
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Cruelty was wrong before anyone wrote a commandment
Cruelty was wrong before anyone wrote a commandment against it. A child in pain is morally important before any authority notices. The pain already matters. The child's suffering and stolen agency…
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Justice has no use for pain that helps no one
Strip punishment of every possible benefit. It protects nobody, repairs nothing, deters no future harm, and teaches no one. If inflicting pain still feels morally necessary, the remaining claim is…