Maverick Philosopher

From the Mail Bag: Tony Benvin on Need

On Aug. 7th you wrote ". . .the best response to the leftist who asks, "'Why do you need a gun?' is wrong question!" I have been saying for years that debating that question is allowing the left to set the premise of the debate. ...

Am I a Body or Do I Have a Body?

In his last book, Mortality, the late Christopher Hitchens writes, "I don't have a body, I am a body." (86) He goes on to observe that he has "consciously and regularly acted as if this was not true." It is a curious fact that mortalis...

Richter on Rationality

Hi, Bill. I love your Maverick blog. I’m Reed Richter: a 71 yr old ex-academic, retired and living in Chapel Hill, NC. I was an undergrad philosophy major at UNC and did my PhD at UC Irvine. My early work was on decision theory. ...

Why Did I Move Away from Phenomenology? Part I

I met with Steven Nemes recently for a productive and intense discussion of people, politics, religion, and in particular the metaphysics of individuality and possibility. I think of Nemes as my 'philosophical grandson.' Although never ...

More on Tribalism and the Identity-Political Right

A re-post from 2 November 2017 emended and supplemented. ................................... This entry continues a discussion with a Right-identitarian interlocutor. My current position is one of rejection of both Left- and Right-ide...

Arguments Don't Have Testicles

Prepared lines come in handy in many of life's situations. They are useful for getting points across in a memorable way and they make for effective on-the-spot rebuttals. A mind well-stocked with prepared lines is a mind less likely ...