subject
Philosophy
Arguments about identity, mind, knowledge, and value, treated with the same care a careful philosopher would extend to a colleague's strongest objection.
12 lessons in philosophy
Consequentialism and Deontology: Two Theories of Right Action
A runaway trolley is hurtling toward five workers on the track.
4 min · comparison
Free Will, Determinism, and the Compatibilist Move
Imagine a chess engine running on a deterministic processor. Given the same board state and the same code, it will always make the same move. Now imagine a human grandmaster facing the same position. …
4 min · synthesis
Hume's Problem of Induction
Every morning you expect the sun to rise. You expect bread to nourish you rather than poison you, and a dropped cup to fall rather than hover. These expectations feel so secure that calling them into …
4 min · deepening
Mind and Brain: Two Ways of Talking About Thought
Picture yourself tasting a strawberry. You could describe what is happening in two completely different ways. The first way talks about your brain. Sugar molecules land on your tongue, nerves fire, si…
3 min · comparison
Plato's Cave and the Question of Appearance
Imagine prisoners chained since childhood inside a cave, facing a wall they cannot turn from.
4 min · foundation
The Trolley Problem and Why It Won't Go Away
A runaway trolley is hurtling down a track toward five workers who cannot get out of the way.
4 min · foundation
What 'I Think, Therefore I Am' Actually Establishes
Imagine you wake up unsure whether the room around you is real.
4 min · foundation
What It Means to Know Something
Imagine you glance at the clock on the kitchen wall. It reads 3:00, and it really is 3:00. Do you know what time it is? Most people would say yes — obviously. But now suppose the clock stopped working…
3 min · deepening
What "Real" Actually Means
Hold up your phone. It is real. Now think about the number seven. Is that real? What about the character Harry Potter, or the country of France, or the pain you felt the last time you stubbed your toe…
3 min · foundation
Why "Fair" Means Different Things in Different Contexts
Imagine three friends finish mowing a neighbor's lawn together.
3 min · foundation
Why You Can't Step in the Same River Twice
Stand at the edge of a river and put your foot in. Now lift it out, wait three seconds, and put it back in the same spot. Did you just step in the same river twice? The Greek philosopher Heraclitus, w…
3 min · foundation
Wittgenstein's Beetle in a Box: The Private Language Argument
Imagine that everyone carries a small box, and inside each box is something the owner calls a "beetle." No one can ever look into anyone else's box.
4 min · deepening