Category Archives: Philosophy

Love is not the Answer

Posted on August 16, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“What is the question?” Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged Compassion, Famous last words, Gertrude Stein, James T. Kirk, love, Pavlov, Propaganda, Utilitarianism, Wittgenstein | Leave a comment

How to Handle Talking About God

Posted on August 12, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“We can talk about God because the word ‘God’ serves as a handle, connecting us to what we can’t know or understand.” Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged A.J. Ayer, Alvin Plantinga, Existence of God, Maimonides, Meaning of God, Philosophy of Religion, Saadia Gaon, Theology, Thomas Aquinas | 3 Comments

Truth in All Its Varieties

Posted on July 25, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

Is truth always the same thing, or are there different kinds of truth? Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy | Tagged Epistemology, Logic, Philosophy, Truth | 3 Comments

Immigration and the Image of God

Posted on February 28, 2017 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jewish Journal: Surprisingly – or maybe not – many of our current debates were foreshadowed by ancient rabbinical disputes. One such foreshadowed debate was our national conundrum about immigration, legal and otherwise. In his … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Art Green, Ethics, Immigration, Judaism's 10 Best Ideas, Loyalty, Moral Choice, Moral intuition, Moral judgment, Moral Psychology, Morality, Rabbi Akiva, Simeon Ben Azzai, Trolley Problem | Leave a comment

Do You Want to Believe?

Posted on November 21, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: After a bitterly divisive election season, there’s one question on everyone’s mind: “How can people possibly believe that?” What “that” is depends on who’s doing the talking. It means one thing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Belief, Debate, Disagreement, Election, Jonathan Haidt, Politics, Psychology, Sociology of Belief, The Righteous Mind, WEIRD values | 2 Comments

Morality Needs Both Logic and Feeling

Posted on November 17, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: As a child, I was a big “Star Trek” fan. I never wanted to be like Captain Kirk. The world was full of Kirk wannabes. My hero was Mr. Spock: stoic, brilliant, … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Adam Smith, B.F. Skinner, Descartes' Error, Ethics, Feeling, Heschel, Hillel, Logic, Moral judgment, Morality, Mr. Spock, Psychology, Star Trek | 1 Comment

Are We Free to Choose?

Posted on September 14, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

Do you have free will? That’s an easy question. Of course you do. Here’s a harder question: What is free will? That’s where most of us get into trouble. Common sense tells us that we have free will, but doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Autonomy, Divine foreknowledge, Exodus, Free Will, Freedom, Jewish Philosophy | 5 Comments

Solve the Right Problem

Posted on September 6, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Define the problem right, and you’re halfway to a solution. Define the problem wrong, and you’ll probably never solve it. You’ll waste all your time looking for a solution that doesn’t exist. … Continue reading →

Posted in Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Faith benefits, Garbage in garbage out, GIGO, Moral reasoning, Morality, Nonviolence, Problem solving, Religion, Religious extremism, Tolerance | 1 Comment

God, Science, and Objective Reality

Posted on August 31, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: “If God does not exist, then everything is permitted.” Dostoyevsky didn’t write exactly those words in The Brothers Karamazov, but he came pretty close. The character Ivan Karamazov says: “For every person … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Individual will, Metaphysics, Natural Law, Objective reality, Objectivity, Polytheism, Science, Theism | 1 Comment

Is It Moral to Have Children?

Posted on August 6, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: The question is strange but not crazy: Should we have children? Are there cases when we shouldn’t? Judaism and common sense agree that generally we should and sometimes we shouldn’t. But there … Continue reading →