Philosophy Archive

Never underestimate the power of bias. My newest article, “Forgive us our biases, as we forgive,” for Toledo Faith and Values (the local news hub for the Religion News Service) shows just how pervasive bias is in our decision making. In this piece for their culture and science section, I look at three scientific studies on bias

Two miles from my house is a mosque, a beautiful piece of gold and white architecture that stands out boldly among the flat fields of Midwestern farms. For some individuals, I’m certain that this building represents something more nefarious. The atheist may see it as monument to human superstition or the conservative Republican Christian

I’ll cut to the chase; if you like the Philosophy Bites podcast, then immediately download its cousin, Bio-Ethics Bites. David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton of Philosophy Bites, in conjunction with the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics funded by The Wellcome Trust have produced the 10-episode series. These great podcasts provide an opportunity to hear interesting

A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss Free Press, 2011 224 pages (Kindle Ed.) Available Amazon Powells Lawrence Krauss’s A Universe from Nothing is long overdue for The Discarded Image. After all, the question of why there is something rather than nothing is at the heart

My newest post, “How Google’s Artificial Intelligence Killed Plato,” is up at The Huffington Post technology section. In this I look at one possible outcome of Google’s new leap in AI for philosophy and religion. And in all honesty, I’m just geeking out.

Below are three books about you. New scientist’s CultureLab has three short reviews up of books that encounter the question of personal identity (“Neuroscience clues to who you aren’t“). What I like about the selection of books being reviewed are the angles from which they come at the question, or at least the angle

In recent years the power of neuroscience has been felt in many fields. Neuroscientists have provided tremendous insight into the strange world of the human brain and new studies have repeatedly demanded new conclusions on big ideas like religion. It is also clear that philosophers cannot ignore the role neuroscience may play in understanding

Free Will by Sam Harris Free Press, 2012 96 pages (Kindle Edition) Available Amazon Powell’s When atheists like Sam Harris write anything, it is likely to cause a controversy. His cursory handling of the human will in his recent, and aptly-titled book, Free Will, is no less so. “Free will is an illusion,” writes