Philosophy & Ethics

Self-Medication Is Key Reason Doctors Abuse Prescription Drugs

Doctors who abuse prescription drugs often "self-medicate" for physical or emotional pain or stress relief, according to a new paper. Based on focus groups with physicians in treatment for substance abuse, the findings lend insight into the reas ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 4 2013 - 6:16pm

Doing Philosophy Of Science, An Example

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Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Oct 6 2013 - 8:16pm

Three And A Half Thought Experiments In Philosophy Of Mind

You can tell I've had philosophy of mind on my mind lately. I've written about the Computational Theory of Mind (albeit within the broadest context of a post on the difference between scientific theories and philosophical accounts), about computa ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Oct 16 2013 - 7:30am

The Metaphysics Wars

I am not a metaphysician (or a metaphysicist, as some call themselves), but I've been fascinated for a while by what I've come to think of as the metaphysics wars. Let me explain. Metaphysics is, of course, one of the classic branches of philosop ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Oct 22 2013 - 7:30am

Why Not Pay People To Become Kidney Donors?

When organ donations after death are a topic, the altruism argument is easily made. But during life, it is more complex. Kidney transplantation is the best treatment for patients with kidney failure. Unfortunately, there's a shortage of kidneys avail ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 25 2013 - 5:30am

Is The Perverse Antisocial The Price For Peace?

A young woman, a student it seems from the looks of it, shuffles in bursts behind me, in small steps one foot just in front of the other, staring down, then she wiggles her head at the sky, then she shuffles on, stops, wiggles her head. The light turns gre ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - May 30 2014 - 12:28am

Are There Natural Laws?

I recently attended a talk by Daniel Garber (Princeton University) on the topic of “God, Laws and the Order of Nature in the Scientific Revolution.” While Garber’s talk was mostly historical in nature, it raised some interesting points about why and how we ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Oct 29 2013 - 7:30am

Ethical Questions Science Can’t Answer

Yes, yes, we’ve covered this territory before. But you might have heard that Sam Harris has reopened the discussion by challenging his critics, luring them out of their hiding places with the offer of cold hard cash. ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Nov 12 2013 - 10:22am

Calculating God

When I go to the gym I get easily bored, so I listen to either music or, more likely, audiobooks. Recently, I’ve spent exercise time with a couple of scifi entries by author Robert Sawyer. I started out with Flashforward, then moved to Calculating God. Bot ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Nov 5 2013 - 7:30am

The Problem With Suspiciously Formed Desires

A recent talk by Adam Elga (Princeton University) at CUNY’s Graduate Center made me think a bit about what the author calls “suspiciously formed desires.” ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Nov 19 2013 - 7:30am