Atheist Ethicist

I have spent a couple of days showing that people generally have reason to promote a general desire to contribute to public goods and/or pro...

Yesterday, I described what economists call the Free Rider Problem in terms of one of game theory’s favorite devices, the Prisoners’ Dilemma...

My nighttime reading this week has been devoted to game theories –theories that looks how rational people make rational choices and the cons...

One of the issues touched on in the Kathy Griffin incident was the issue of private censorship. This aspect has gone largely unmentioned, bu...

Yesterday, Google announced the creation of a new prize dedicated to the development of space, The Google X-Prize (a.k.a. "Moon 2.0...

The Comic Defense Two commenters responded to yesterday’s blog with what I call “The Comic Defense” – a claim that if one is a ‘comic’, or...

Many atheist readers will already be familiar with this story. Kathy Griffin received a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program. ...

When some people hear that somebody is going to discuss ‘morality’, they jump to the conclusion that the discussion must be about ‘the moral...

Several Republican politicians and supporters who have been vocal advocates of ‘family values’ with its condemnation of homosexuality have r...

Hello, reader. I'm back from vacation, and I am ready to start another brand new year of Atheist Ethicist. As it turns out, this is ...

While I was away on my summer vacation, I worked on a new book. I had planned to work on a new book when I left. However, it turns out that ...

I will be going away on vacation for 10 days. The next time you will hear from me should be the night of September 9th. The traffic report...

As I understand it, the driver who rear-ended the bus my wife was involved in, got out of his vehicle, stepped onto the bus, and asked, “Is ...

I have always been quite surprised at how kind and considerate emergency response personnel (police, fire fighters, paramedics) can be. I do...