My blog

A tale of two criteria

One of the great things about living in our time is . . . the silicone baking mat. This is a magnificent piece of technology, and if you have even a passing interest in using an oven, you should have at least one. But once you have one (or two or three), you’ll confront the […]

Continue Reading

Managing Reason Fatigue

There have been a number of articles in the news about the growing anger of vaccinated people at the unvaccinated, confrontations about masks and social distancing, and of course, plenty of expert advice that shaming, scorn, and insults do not generally move people to be “responsible.” Behind all this lies what I call “reason fatigue”: […]

Continue Reading

Performing language

I’ve had a few questions about my Pronouns post, and I want to take a moment to clear up a possible confusion about “performing.” In English, the word perform has various connotations, of which we can differentiate two main themes. When actors perform a part, they are, to be crude, pretending to be someone they […]

Continue Reading

What Panpsychism tells us about Method

I recently read an interesting article about panpsychism: https://www.salon.com/2021/07/23/panpsychism-the-idea-that-inanimate-objects-have-consciousness-gains-steam-in-science-communities/ Briefly, panpsychism is the claim that “consciousness is inextricably linked to all matter.” If you’re trying to get your head around this idea, read Pullman’s His Dark Materials (one of my favorite works of fiction, incidentally). Pullman has created a world in which consciousness is thoroughly […]

Continue Reading

Pronouns

You’ve probably seen a “preferred pronouns” notice in people’s email signatures and elsewhere. This practice is a frequent topic of conversation, and I’m often asked questions like, Is it a fad? or What’s wrong with pronouns the way they are? What’s the big deal? Aristotle rightly pointed out that, of all the ways we interact […]

Continue Reading

Switch

A few weeks ago, I decided to install a new light fixture and a dimmer in my bathroom, so I did what any philosopher would do: I researched light fixtures and switches to find exactly the right ones. The fixture was relatively easy, because — aside from accommodating dimmable bulbs — the issues were mostly […]

Continue Reading