I have been involved with the planning of an important on-campus event ever since early June. I wrote about that event and what we on the planning committee hoped it would accomplish a few weeks ago. Abortion and Faith Discussions: Begin How You Want It To End That event took place last evening, in front of a packed venue with 400+ students, faculty, administrators, and staff in attendance. I was originally supposed to be the moderator of the discussion, but... Read more
Autumn is my favorite season—not even a close contest. I grew up in northern Vermont, surrounded by spectacular foliage colors every late September and crisp, jacket-wearing sunny days in October. Or so I remember it—given that Vermont reportedly has more cloudy days per year than any other state, there probably weren’t that many sunny days. Fifty years later in southern New England, we get autumn several weeks later than in Vermont. I’ve also noticed that Rhode Island trees are not... Read more
Do moral absolutes exist? Is human engagement with moral principles more like a treasure hunt, where we search for something that is already there but perhaps is deeply hidden, or are moral principles something that we creatively construct from various pieces of our individual and collective experiences as well as from the world around us? These are the sorts of questions that I always spend the first few weeks of any ethics course exploring with my students. On the first... Read more
I was saddened to learn this morning that Hilary Mantel, the two-time Booker Prize winning historical novelist, whose Thomas Cromwell trilogy [Wolf Hall (2009); Bring Up the Bodies (2012); The Mirror and the Light (2020)] made her an international star as well as serving as the basis for several stage plays and the BBC series Wolf Hall, died yesterday. She was one of my favorite novelists with an unmatched command of language and an unfailing ability to create unforgettable characters. Along with her Cromwell... Read more
Today is the first day of autumn. For those who love autumn as I do, it was wonderful to experience three perfect early autumn days at the end of last week even though it was still summer. But there is an underlying truth to autumn that many find disturbing. While spring promises new beginnings—as they say, hope “springs” eternal (couldn’t help myself)—autumn is about things winding down and ending. Aristotle tells us that “generation and corruption” is the defining process... Read more
The first reading assignment in my General Ethics class this semester was Kate Jennings’ 2002 novel Moral Hazard. I have used it several times in class over the years because it throws the reader headlong into a multitude of moral quandaries and difficulties ranging from sacrificing one’s moral values in order to make money to euthanasia. Cath, the narrator of the novel (and clearly autobiographical in many regards) is happily married to Bailey, a man twenty years her senior who,... Read more
One of my greatest joys as a philosophy professor is that I get to be bad on a regular basis. There were a number of people about whom I was told little growing up, other than that they are dangerous and to be avoided like the plague. I work out my rebellion against these restrictions now by ensuring that these thinkers make as many appearances on my syllabi as professional integrity will allow. So I teach Darwin with gusto in... Read more
I asked my Facebook friends at the beginning of the summer to list three or four books that changed their lives. Not necessarily books that belong in the Great Books curriculum, but books that came just at the right time and spoke to them in a particular and memorable way. I’ve written about two of mine over the past couple of months–here’s another one. A year from now, I will be on sabbatical for the Fall 2023 semester (the fourth,... Read more
An evangelical Christian and an atheist got into an argument recently on this blog’s Facebook page that, before long, was about as civil and intelligent as your typical argument between a Trump-loving conservative and a progressive liberal. I appreciated that at least they directed their ire at each other instead of at me. I have been a person of faith, sometimes reluctantly, for my whole life—the very existence of this blog is due to my continuing commitment to grappling with... Read more
Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing twenty-one years ago today when they heard the news. I was in my college’s main cafeteria getting coffee and noticed something weird happening on the Today Show broadcast on a television hanging from the ceiling in the corner. At that point all they knew was that one of the Twin Towers was on fire, apparently because an airplane had crashed into it. I had scheduled office hours that... Read more
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