I Like Big Books

In honour of the start of research time: From here.

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The Utilitarian Calculus and Ordering Textbooks for Class

Utilitarianism is basically the moral view that in order to judge whether an action is good one should consider the consequences and then evaluate whether the act provides the most good to the greatest number of people. (It is more complex than that, as you can see from the description at this link, but the nuts and [...]

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I’m Always Hallucinating, But Who Really Knows?: Why Epistemology is Important

One area of epistemology, asks whether it is wrong to hold certain beliefs. William Clifford said: It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence. The “ethics of belief” is often used in intro philosophy classes to begin debates about God’s existence. The following video also provides an example of [...]

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What is Wrong with Wanting the Best for Your Kids?

When parents discuss their choices about their children’s education and extracurricular activities they often mention that they want the best for their children: I just want the best for my kids. I want my daughter to have all possible advantages. I want my son to have a head start. This attitude is usually taken to [...]

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The A-ness and the P-ness: Philosophy is Funny

Today at the writing centre we had several students come in who were taking their first ethics class. I was trying to explain that the task of the assignment was to identify some property (or set of properties) or principle that make the described case morally troublesome. I did not want to give away what [...]

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“What Teachers Make” Taylor Mali

A little bit of love for teachers, since last post was rather critical. “What Teachers Make” by Taylor Mali Also see his website http://www.taylormali.com/ for more poems and videos.

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Open Letter to Professors and TAs who are Grading Papers

Re: Please refrain from writing “who cares?” “so what?” and other similar statements when grading student papers. The writing centre gets busy at this time of year as the term draws to a close and essays and assignments are nearing their due date. Many students are coming in with earlier assignments to seek advice on [...]

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On Writing a Dissertation

My dissertation is like a long-term relationship, and right about now I would love to have a fling with a term paper. My dissertation, I love you, I think you are the most worthwhile idea I have tried to pursue, but you frustrate me. Why are we having this argument again? I thought last month [...]

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Dinner with Immanuel Kant

I have been having a recurring dream lately about going to dinner with Immanuel Kant. The details of the dream are different. We are going to dinner for different reasons and we go to different restaurants. One element is constant in each of the dreams: I have written extensive notes on my hands about this [...]

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