Abstract In a recent Think piece, Jonathan Spelman argues that while the potential for drunk driving ‘to cause harm shouldn’t be understated, mask-less shopping’s potential for harm is even greater’. From there, he argues that just as states outlaw drunk driving, they should adopt mask mandates for shoppers in order to save lives. Unfortunately, this argument assumes that (untrained) people use masks properly, are sufficiently compliant with the mandate, and that the Peltzman effect doesn’t apply to mask mandates, that is, people engage in riskier behaviour when they feel safer. However, there are good reasons to doubt each assumption, theoretical and empirical. The article concludes that we should be sceptical that the life-saving potential of masks justifies mask mandates.
Abstract This article introduces the work of Gisele Halimi, advocate and co-author with Simone de Beauvoir. Halimi’s work is examined for its philosophical content and its relation to the cultures of North Africa. This active woman exemplifies certain conceptual trends then at work in France and other areas, and her writings show the influence of the overall European and colonial milieus on a number of ethnicities.
Abstract In this article, I invite readers to think about what it really means to taste life. I intend this to be an opening to a broader conversation about what it means to be virtuous, to flourish collectively, and even to experience transcendence. Guiding the reader through various existential views and scenarios, I explore the potential to transform both our lives and the fabric of our shared reality. Living such a life entails far more than a mundane and restrained biological, functional existence. In short, we need not ‘merely exist’; we can exist more .
Abstract This is an interview with Elizabeth Anderson about her classic paper ‘What is The Point of Equality?’ (published in Ethics in 1999) In this interview, Elizabeth outlines and clarifies the argument of that paper, and goes on to explain how her views have since changed.
Abstract What we do with the dead remains a universal issue because, as the major premise of that classic syllogism reminds us, all humans are mortal (even Socrates!). Since our bodies age, wither and expire, corpse disposal is a grave matter (excuse the pun) for many worldviews. From aquamation to human space junk, the creative options for disposing of bodies continue to expand. This article explores body disposal choices and describes spiritually appropriate burial methods for the pantheist, who believes that the world is God.
