Tali Sharot and Cass Sunstein on Habituation
Be careful what you get used to; or, Get used to what you care for By asking the volunteers to increase the voltage one step… Read More »Tali Sharot and Cass Sunstein on Habituation
ethics
Alasdair MacIntyre on virtue and practices (1): What is a practice?
In the Homeric account of the virtues — and in heroic societies more generally — the exercise of a virtue exhibits qualities which are required… Read More »Alasdair MacIntyre on virtue and practices (1): What is a practice?
Agreeableness and amiability
Social agreeableness – being able to get along with other people, being “low friction” – is a sort-of-virtue. It’s a helpful enabler of community and… Read More »Agreeableness and amiability
Aristotle’s cardinal virtues
Cardinal, from the Latin cardo, meaning “hinge”, because these are (according to Aristotle and others) the virtues (arete or “excellences”) on which a good life… Read More »Aristotle’s cardinal virtues
Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Without … a place in the social order, a man [in a heroic society such as Homeric Greece or Saga Iceland] would not only be… Read More »Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Ends and Meanings (2): Alasdair MacIntyre on the modern self
MacIntyre believes that contemporary modern statements are ultimately ’emotivist’: in the absence of a clear telos (purpose / function / end), the statement “You ought… Read More »Ends and Meanings (2): Alasdair MacIntyre on the modern self
Design matters 18: Misleading graph based on PISA 2018 data
This graph seems designed to produce a kind of moral panic among European nations: “Our children are falling waaay behind kids in Asia (and Estonia)!”… Read More »Design matters 18: Misleading graph based on PISA 2018 data
Ends and Meanings: Alasdair MacIntyre on the three-legged stool of Aristotelian ethics
Below is MacIntyre’s description of the Aristotelian model of morality. He believes this model began to break down during the Enlightenment, leaving us with the… Read More »Ends and Meanings: Alasdair MacIntyre on the three-legged stool of Aristotelian ethics
A disordered language of morality: Alasdair MacIntyre’s disquieting suggestion
Why does there seem to be no rational way of securing moral agreement in our culture? Why do competing moral claims (for example between the… Read More »A disordered language of morality: Alasdair MacIntyre’s disquieting suggestion
Thought experiment: Infinite inequality without injustice (1)
This may seem obvious, but it’s important. Jane and Frank work weekdays at a restaurant. One day, their boss offers them both an extra shift… Read More »Thought experiment: Infinite inequality without injustice (1)