Category Archives: Philosophy

History Bends Toward Chaos

Posted on June 9, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Many people say that “the arc of history bends toward justice.” Pardon my French, but ce n’est pas vrai: It’s not true. It’s the opposite of the truth. If there is going to be justice in our world, we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Political Science, Society | Tagged American Revolution, Arc of history, Chaos, Disorder, Entropy, French Revolution, Justice, Order, Order versus chaos, Russian Revolution, Utopian, Utopianism | 3 Comments

Trick or Treat

Posted on June 7, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Is it okay to “trick people” for their own good? That question comes up early in John Staddon’s book The New Behaviorism. I’ve just started reading it, and it’s a thought-provoking analysis. Behaviorism is a psychological approach that, true to … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged B.F. Skinner, Behaviorism, Clickbait, Free Will, Freedom, Freedom of choice, John B. Watson, John Staddon, Operant conditioning, Power corrupts, Psychology, Staddon, The Fatal Conceit, Totalitarianism, Utopianism | 2 Comments

Tolerance or Violence?

Posted on May 29, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

A friend and I recently had a rational debate about abortion. Yes, rational debate is possible, even about touchy subjects. Neither of us convinced the other, but we understand each other better. Perhaps even more important, we confirmed that disagreement … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Society | Tagged Abortion, Base-10, Base-3, Coercion, Constitution, Definitional arguments, Definitions, Federalism, Fetus, Freedom of choice, Live and let live, Ternary, Tolerance, Violence | 3 Comments

What’s at Issue in the Abortion Debate

Posted on May 17, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Abortion isn’t exactly a “third rail” of American politics, since people yell about it all the time. But it is a third rail of rational discussion. Many people have dogmatic beliefs about it and they react with blind rage to … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Abortion, Alabama, Autonomy, Dogmatism, Fetus, Georgia, Heartbeat law, Heresy, Infanticide, Pro-choice, Pro-life, Rational debate, Right to life, State religion | 2 Comments

Thinking Sideways

Posted on May 7, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

There are three kinds of people I like most in the world. First, the ones who tell me how incredibly good-looking I am. Even though I worked on Capitol Hill, I still haven’t met anyone who’s able to lie that … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society | Tagged Creativity, Dimensions of morality, Incomensurable, Incommensurability, Jonathan Haidt, Modes of thinking, Moral dimensions, Moral foundations, Moral intuitions, Moral Psychology, Multiple intelligences, Mysticism, Pragmatism, The Righteous Mind, Thinking, Tolerance, Viewpoints | 2 Comments

Lucky You

Posted on April 29, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

You’re lucky. So am I. I’ve written in previous blogs that believing we’re lucky is a helpful attitude: It makes us happier because we look for the good in situations. It helps us achieve because we see problems as opportunities … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Society | Tagged Andrew Yang, Automation, Evolution, Guaranteed annual income, Heredity, Rawls, The War on Normal People, Unemployment, Universal basic income | Leave a comment

Don’t Mistake Hate for Logic

Posted on April 23, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

We’ve probably all made the error of mistaking hate for logic. Of course, we didn’t realize it at the time. But that’s what we were doing. Yesterday’s blog post got me thinking about the problem. On my “Top 10” list … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology | Tagged Affirming the consequent, Belisarius, Bias, Byzantine Empire, Empress Theodora, Hate, Hatred, History, Justinian, Logic, Logical fallacies, Loyalty, Modus Ponens, Ostrogorsky, Rationality, Reason, Social Conflict, Syllogism | Leave a comment

Do Great Individuals Shape History?

Posted on April 22, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Is human history driven mainly by the actions of “great men”? It’s called the great man theory of history. Of course, the problem is that word “mainly.” Lots of things cause historical events. To say that a specific person was … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Society | Tagged Adam and Eve, Aristotle, Buddha, Calculus, Confucius, Einstein, Empress Theodora, Gilgamesh, Great Man Theory, Greatness, Hammurabi, Historiography, History, Isaac Newton, Jesus, Leibniz, Moses, Theories of History, Winston Churchill | Leave a comment

Two Views of Life — and Government

Posted on April 18, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Your parents lied to you. So did mine. They told us: “You can do anything if you make up your mind to do it.” Nope. Not true. Don’t be too hard on parents. It’s a well-meaning lie. It’s arguably even … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology | Tagged Democracy, Determination, Encouragement, History, Nature vs. nurture, Noble lie, Parenting, Persistence, Positive thinking, Social contract | Leave a comment

Don’t Wait: Be Happy Now

Posted on April 12, 2019 by N.S. Palmer

Empiricism is the idea that beliefs should be based on observable evidence. It’s one of the main reasons that our civilization has been successful. Empiricism has given us science, medicine, and technology. It’s given us choices and luxuries that people … Continue reading →