The Philosophical Muser

  An age-old question in philosophy is, “Is beauty in the mind or in the object?” We know that in most cases it is in the mind as a result o...

Jonathan Haidt’s elephant and the rider metaphor develops Hume’s famous “reason is the slave of the passions”, and illustrates the elephant ...

  There is an old maxim that goes 'The longer I live, the less and less I believe in, but the little I believe in, I believe in more and...

  People who think we are compelled to vote in elections use ethical persuasion (namely, civic duty and the value of participation), but the...

  In yesterday's Blog post , I explored the relationship between beauty and simplicity in scientific laws – and how, while simplicity of...

  The relationship between beauty and truth has always been fascinating to me, especially when we add in the elegance of algorithmic simplic...

Islam is an intriguing religion in terms of its huge number of adherents and its identity in the modern world (and by modern, I mean the pas...

  Sometimes religious fundamentalists question the historical nature of science in areas like evolutionary biology, cosmology and geology - ...

I have sympathy with arguments for flat tax rates and for progressive tax rates, but I think the best arguments against progressive tax rate...

Atheist Richard Carrier wrote a provocative piece entitled Ten Ways The World Would Be Different If God Existed (which I’d encourage you to...

  Self-perception is an interesting thing. My perception of my 'self' is based upon mental formulations in the present moment - but ...

  I was interested to see this article , which reports on the finding that, according to psychologists, playfulness is just about the most a...

Let me start with one of the plainest economics truisms in the whole subject of trade; if a country makes things more expensive to produce d...

  Also published on my Network Norfolk page this week Regarding Christ's sacrifice on the cross as an act of grace in atonement for our...

Today is World Mental Health Day, which aims to “raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in support...

In seeing what you are willing to believe, bad agents acquire the opportunity to know how easy it would be to get you to comply with their a...

Imagine if a teenager with no knowledge of cars walked into a garage and started to tell the mechanics how they should be tuning the engines...

  Think about your individual beliefs and views on any given subject. Take a belief and call it x. You believe x is true, but what is your l...

  Everyone knows the potential barriers to the success of long distance relationships, where many result in dissolution. But with strong com...

  I recall a quote by computer designer Charles Babbage that has stuck with me over the years, about having an opponent who strikes him as s...

  Liz Truss has said this week: “Things would be better if I was still in charge” – a comment which has elicited ridicule and chagrin with a...