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Category Archives: Philosophy
Anchor effects in philosophy
Gregory Lewis poses the following intriguing question in this thoughtful and original essay/blog post: where are the 13 Platos in modern Attica? Here is an extended excerpt from his essay:
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Philosophy
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Our favorite research poster
We have been celebrating Research Week at our home institution, the University of Central Florida (UCF). Our Research Week culminated today with the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, featuring over 300 student poster presentations, representing over 50 majors. One of … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Art, Culture, Ethics, History, Philosophy
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A question for Professors Fried & Shiffrin
Charles Fried is best known (among scholars of contract law) for his “contract as promise” thesis, while Seana Shiffrin is widely known for her influential 2007 Harvard Law Review article on the divergence between contract and promise. We too are … Continue reading
Posted in Cooperation, Law, Philosophy
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Why political pledges are generally worthless
Theory: Economists use the apt term “cheap talk” to refer to mere pledges or promises that are not backed up by credible threats. Generally speaking, a pledge, promise, or vow to do x is worthless when it is not backed up … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Law, Philosophy
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Review of “Contract as Promise”
Law professor Charles Fried published a little book called “Contract as Promise” in 1981. (It’s now in its second edition and is required reading in many contracts law courses.) His thesis, simply stated, is that promises are self-imposed moral obligations. … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Philosophy
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Promises, promises (Epilogue)
We wrote up a four-part series on the problem of promises (specifically, why is it morally wrong to break a promise?), using a recent episode from the world of politics to explore the moral foundations of promises. In particular, we saw … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Promises, promises (part 4 of 4)
Note: this is the last post of this four-part series. Our previous posts in this series have explored the moral foundations of promissory obligations. Furthermore, instead of investigating this important philosophical puzzle in the abstract, we have turned our attention to … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Promises, promises (part 3 of 4)
Note: this is the third post in a four-part series. In our previous blog posts, we saw how Donald Trump’s remaining Republican rivals (Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich) have all pledged to support the eventual nominee of their party, even if … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Promises, promises (part 2 of 4)
Note: this is the second post of a four-part series. In our previous blog post, we mentioned how Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich recently reiterated their solemn pledge to support the eventual nominee of their party, even if … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Promises, promises
Note: This is the first post of a four-part series on the theme of promissory obligations. During the summer of 2015, all the main Republican presidential candidates took a solemn pledge to support the eventual nominee of their party. Although such a … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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prior probability 