Reflections on Philosophy and Science

In this area, our authors offer their personal reflections on a variety of issues in philosophy and science. These musings are short and to the point and are often precursors to more substantive essays. Do you have your own thoughts that you would like to share with a wider audience? Contributions of ideas are welcomed.

Latest Reflections

Rational Realm welcomes contributions of personal reflections for publication on our site. Please review our submission guidelines and contact us.

• Determinism, Morality and Human Relationships

  Leslie Allan shares his perspective on the implications of a deterministic framing of behaviour for morality and human relationships.

• What's Wrong with Democracy?

  The rise of Donald Trump and the outcome of the Brexit vote indicate that our democratic systems of government are under stress.

• Doing Good without God

  Read one atheist's story about how she practices effective altruism through Kiva microfinance.

• Free Will and Compatibilism

  Discussion paper exploring whether human beings can possess genuine free will in a deterministic world and the implications for moral responsibility.

• Moral Norms and Normativity

  Do moral norms differ from non-moral norms, such as norms of law, prudence, etiquette and game play? This preliminary analysis teases out what is common to all normative systems and what is different about moral norms.

• What Is Cosmology?

  Is cosmology a true scientific discipline based on experimental data or just philosophical speculation?