Alexander Pruss's Blog

I have the good of friendship with Trent. Suppose Trent was my only friend. Then I would be getting two good things out of my friendship: ha...

It's natural to model deontic constraints in decision theory by assigning infinite disutility to forbidden actions. This temptation shou...

There are two teleological concepts: that of a telos and that of proper function . Each of them helps us make certain teleological judgment...

There is a fashion in certain quarters these days to criticize the lavishness of student recreational facilities, and their effect on the co...

Start with this thought: If I have on-balance stronger reasons to do A than to do B, and I am choosing between A and B, then it is better th...

One sometimes hears the idea that justice trumps other considerations. There is a sense in which this is true, but it's not a very inter...

Here's a surprising thing: It is possible to cause something to be uncaused. Let's suppose Socrates' parents chose to have only ...

St. Augustine argued somewhat like thus: Everything that exists is sustained by God. God sustains only good. Thus everything that exists is ...

What should an ordinary household thermometer show at temperatures close to absolute zero? There is no answer to this question. The question...

I'll just baldly give the theory without much argument. Axiology is necessary. It's a necessary truth that friendship and knowledge ...

All humans have dignity because they are humans. Humans do not have dignity because of an extrinsic property. So, being human isn't an e...

If many of the worst kinds of pains are good, then probably pain isn't intrinsically bad. Many of the worst kinds of pains are good. So,...

Some films are evil . Birth of a Nation or Triumph of the Will , say. My interest in this post is not in such morally harmful films. Rather...

Humans in heaven will eventually have a personal love for all persons. It is not possible for a human to have a personal love for infinitely...

Suppose time is made of points, and suppose it's continuous. Suppose Sam suffers pain from noon to 1 pm and Sally suffers an equally int...