Introducing "Philosophical Reflections"
How ought we to live?
That is the fundamental question of ethics, one of the five primary subfields of philosophy, along with metaphysics (the study of the nature of fundamental reality), epistemology (the study of knowledge), aesthetics (the study of the nature of taste and beauty), and logic (the study of the principles of inference).
It is also the question that will be the organizing theme of this blog, the name of which is partially inspired by (what I regard as) the greatest work of the late moral philosopher, Derek Parfit (if you’re interested, please check out this lovely tribute to Parfit by one of my former teachers, Jonathan Dancy). Specifically, I plan to post content pertaining to: the nature of ethical truth, applied ethics, the problem of free will, the nature of the self, natural theology (arguments for the existence of God), and more.
I’m creating this Substack because I simply enjoy writing, thinking, and communicating about big ideas - and I desire to have a venue for doing each of these things outside of the classroom and the confines of formal academic work. I’m conceiving of the blog as a place to think aloud, in a far more accessible and informal manner than is possible in the sort of writing I (in theory…) do professionally. Refined versions of some of the thoughts I put forward here may well eventually find their way into work I submit to academic journals, but I will always strive to keep my posts jargon-free, to the greatest extent possible (and I will explain any jargon that proves necessary, as some jargon is).
Why should you read my Substack? You probably shouldn’t. Life is very short, and there are much more important things to read! But there are also much worse things to read, so if you insist: you should read it if you find some value in the perspective that I bring to bear and enjoy brief glosses on big topics relating to questions relating to what people sometimes have in mind when talking about “the meaning of life”. If you just want to learn about ethics in particular, or about philosophy in general, you probably can’t do better than simply reading entries on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; if you wish to read what some philosophical superstar has to say about something, then you should obviously just read that person’s writing (I do not pretend to be any kind of superstar!). But if you want some direction from a stumbling and highly imperfect guide who has taught many undergraduate courses and learned from some of philosophy’s brightest lights, then you should come along for the ride!
Specifically, what I can offer is the perspective of someone with formal training in philosophy who (a) believes in objectivity (i.e., in the idea that there is a way things really are, regardless of what anyone thinks) and (b) is committed to realism about value and normativity (i.e., is committed to the idea that there objective truths concerning what ought to be valued, and what ought to be done). I take these commitments to be fundamental, for I believe that without them, human inquiry - and life itself - would be pointless; even absurd (more on this in the future).
Thank you for checking out this introductory post!