Philosophy Phridays is a series where each Friday, I go to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, click on “random entry,” and then write about whatever comes up. This week’s random entry is Plotinus. Plotinus is something of an odd figure in the history of philosophy. Any way you look at it, he is one of the…
In the Republic, Plato sets out to answer the question, “What is justice?” Along the way, Socrates* and his interlocutors raise the question of who leads the more pleasant life, the just or the unjust. They bring it to extremes. They assume that the unjust person gets away with it, so to speak. People don’t…
The death penalty has been in the news a lot lately. I read recently that Oklahoma has approved nitrogen gas as a way to kill people. The Boston Marathon bombing trial is in its sentencing phase. There have also been several high profile executions gone wrong. And, of course, The Supreme Court just heard oral…
Robert Paul Wolff writes a very entertaining blog called The Philosopher’s Stone. Even when he is just bragging about his grandchildren, it is still utterly charming. A little while ago, I read a post called Ein Gedankenexperiment A La Rawls. In this post, he describes a thought experiment to determine what jobs would be worth…
I have often said that there is no thing more worthy of a holiday than love. This, however, is not the dominant view. Most people seem to see Valentine’s Day as the ultimate Hallmark Holiday. People complain because they are single on Valentine’s Day or they complain because it creates obligations they don’t want. It…
There are two types of facts in the world. I know it sounds odd to say that, but it’s true. There are facts that are true no matter what and there are facts that are contingent. That probably still sounds odd, so I’ll give some examples. A fact that is true no matter what is…
Friendship has been a subject for philosophical thought since there has been philosophical thought. This only makes sense since friendship is such an important part of human life. As with much of philosophy, Plato discussed the topic, but Aristotle’s views are what dominate the landscape. Aristotle saw three different types of friendship. There are friendships…
