Winter’s Haven

So he describes himself in this brilliant short piece which elucidates the relationship between deontology and consequentialism.
If, owing to the complexities and uncertainties of life, the rule “don’t lie” produces the best consequences over the long run, and it just so happens that in a particular instance telling a lie led to a good [...]

A sociology grad student at Northern Illinois University opened fire on a crowed lecture hall there, killing 5 people and wounding 16 before killing himself. Details can be found at the New York Times and most everywhere else. I just want to toss out a bit of meta-commentary.
As in past mass shootings, this incident [...]

Thad Guy discusses objective morality, in his usual brilliantly succinct fashion.

I think that pretty much sums up the issue.

In response to this article in The Independent.

Dear Sir,
I read your recent recent article on Dawkins, ethics, and religion in The Independent. I have a question: of which religion are you a member? I wish to join. I am an atheist, but see no conflict in joining a sect so refreshingly free of mysticism and [...]

Alonzo Fyfe, the Atheist Ethicist, wrote an excellent article on Epistemic Negligence in Teaching Religion. I have just one quibble.
The article over-emphasizes the epistemic crimes of experts while ignoring those committed by ordinary people (i.e. parents). Fyfe points out that in some cases, non-experts do not deserve the same moral condemnation for making mistakes [...]

A recent post on Daylight Atheism explains why Ebonmuse is not a libertarian. But I think he bungled it . Aside from Ebonmuse’s support for military draft, I see no objections to calling him a libertarian. My bio page says I’m a “consequentialist libertarian”, and I think it’s time for me to explain [...]

Marc Andreessen points out a most enlightening interview in Der Spiegel of a Kenyan economist on the topic of development aid.
One might look at this as just a very bad case of unintended consequences, but I’d like to suggest that there is a deeper moral here: we need to stop assuming that altruistically motivated actions [...]