Category: Philosophy notes

3 articles

The burden of proof doesn't exist, or how to dodge a debate while looking smart

Two men at a table, each pointing a finger at the other. Between them, an open book that nobody is looking at. The entire "burden of proof" in one image. "The burden of proof is on you!" There. The debate is over. My interlocutor has just uttered the magic formula. He can now cr…

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"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," or the art of saying nothing with authority

A man searching for his keys under a streetlight, in a circle of light. Far away in the darkness, the keys gleam. The entire epistemology of the slogan in one image. There are phrases that function like passwords. You utter them, and doors open: the door of intellectual respecta…

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What even is a final cause, or why your morning hot chocolate refutes materialism

A rubber duck sitting in a cup of hot chocolate, surrounded by a sketch of Aristotle's four causes. Because if an acorn can become an oak, surely it can become a duck. Apparently not. "But what's the point of a final cause?" Again? Not that the question is stupid (it isn't), but…

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