Kieran Snyder (Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania) has spent the last decade leading teams of software designers and engineers. She is also a mother who has written two recent articles for Slate magazine. Continue reading Motherhood
Monthly Archives: August 2014
True and False Beliefs
Truth, holding a mirror and a serpent (1896). Olin Levi Warner, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Pursuant to our recent posts concerning differentiating truth from falsity, especially in science, I happened upon a piece in the New York Times titled “When Belief and Facts Collide.” The author is Brendan Nyhan, Ph.D. in political science from Duke Continue reading True and False Beliefs
When Should We Argue?
Agreeable Burden (William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1895)
I have touched on this topic before, but advancing age and the finitude of life has caused me to think about this again. A few months ago my post “On Belief and Skepticism,”
elicited this response from a reader: Continue reading When Should We Argue?
Better Off Dead or Worse Off Alive?
Yesterday’s post promised a few thoughts on death with dignity. Having taught medical ethics for more than a decade, I have spent some time reading, thinking and writing about the subject. In 1994 I published a piece called, “Worse Off Alive: Reply to Garcia” in the American Philosophical Association’s Continue reading Better Off Dead or Worse Off Alive?
A Reader’s Comments on the Process of Dying
A recent post of mine entitled: “The Case Against Hope,” elicited some thoughtful comments from a reader. My piece argued that it is best to give up hope in hopeless situations. Continue reading A Reader’s Comments on the Process of Dying