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Open for Debate

Normative Entanglement in Public Discourse (Part 1)

Posted on 5 April 2021 by Susan Notess

In an episode of The West Wing, a comment is made to the press that the fictional US President, Josiah Bartlett, is not particularly fond of green beans.[1] On the day in question, the president’s staff confront the usual mayhem of low- and high-octane problems, among them the problem of what should be done about
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The Ethics of Belief: It’s not just Trump supporters who believe wrongly—it’s all of us

Posted on 22 March 2021 by Nathan Nobis

As the dust settles on the Trump presidency, we are left to reflect on its many themes. One of its most fundamental was this: believing without adequate evidence.
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Think Before You Push the “Share” Button

Posted on 8 March 2021 by Sarah Wright

You’ve just run across a hilarious satire on a comedic news site and can’t wait to re-post it so your friends can get a chuckle. Or you’ve found an over-the-top editorial arguing for an unethical policy and want to show others the dangers of bad thinking. But before you share, take a moment to consider
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Modeling Sex as a Joint Activity

Posted on 22 February 2021 by Laura Caponetto

There has been an ongoing philosophical discussion over the last three decades on consent and refusal of sex qua speech acts – that is, acts performed in the uttering of certain words (typically, ‘yes’/‘no’) in a sexual setting[1]. Both consent and refusal are ‘second-turn speech acts’. The thought is simple: for my ‘yes’/‘no’ utterance to
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