General philosophy

Here is a list of my favorite, freely available, essays on general philosophy that I have written over the years for third party publications (i.e., not my own blogs). Most recent on top.

What is this thing called pseudoscience? How to tell science from bunk (IAI News)

Free speech and virtue ethics (Aereo Magazine)

No Matter How You Put It, Scientism Is Still A Bad Idea (APA blog)

The editors of Philosophical Psychology stalled and rejected our commentary to an unscientific and racist publication. (Medium)

The perils of knowledge in a pandemic. Fake news and pseudoscience during a pandemic is a moral issue we’re all responsible for. (Institute of Art and Ideas)

Living the good life. (APA blog)

How (and why) to choose your philosophy of life. A philosophical guide for living a good life. (Institute of Art and Ideas)

An 8-part exchange between Philip Goff and myself on the science and philosophy of panpsychism, the notion that consciousness is somehow elemental in the universe. (Wiki.Letter)

Consciousness is real. Consciousness is neither a spooky mystery nor an illusory belief. It’s a valid and causally efficacious biological reality. (Aeon)

Wisdom: what is it? (The Philosophers’ Magazine)

The big myths in and on science. Why do bad scientific theories live for so long? (Institute of Art and Ideas)

An 8-part exchange of letters between David Sloan Wilson and myself about the usefulness of Darwinian theory in the understanding of human history (Wiki.Letter)

Richard Feynman was wrong about beauty and truth in science (Aeon)

Set your alarm clock (on the metaphysics and ethics of time) (New Philosopher)

Human Nature and the ethical life (Project Syndicate)

Diogenes the Cynic vs Elon Musk (Institute of Art and Ideas)

Is there a universal morality? (The Evolution Institute)

The problem with scientism (APA Blog)

The case for more science and philosophy books for children (Nautilus)

Must science be testable? (Aeon)

When philosophy of science matters: pseudoscience, public health, and public policy (APA Blog)

Why do we need an extended evolutionary synthesis? (EES Blog)

God and the Source of Morality — On the Euthyphro dilemma (The Philosopher’s Magazine, part I & part II)

Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Value of Philosophy (HuffPost)

The dangers of pseudoscience (New York Times)

What Hard Problem? (Philosophy Now)

Who knows what: on the relationship between the sciences and the humanities (Aeon)

Why I reject Ayn Rand’s “philosophy”