Category Archives: philosophy

The Anti-Sam Harris Points Us To A Real Moral Operating System

Posted on June 15, 2011 by dianesilver

Google Engineering Director Damon Horowitz tackles the idea of using numbers and science to make ethical decisions and comes up with a delightfully different answer than Sam Harris did in The Moral Landscape. Watching Horowitz’ TED talk, I’m energized and … Continue reading →

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Cramming Goodness into a Box

Posted on May 19, 2011 by dianesilver

My story on Duke Professor Ruth Grant is now online at the University of Chicago Magazine. An excerpt: “There is no form of goodness that’s good in every situation,” Grant says. “Nobody is a perfectly good person.” Whether someone can … Continue reading →

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Compassion as Technology

Posted on February 15, 2011 by dianesilver

NPR journalist Krista Tippett resurrects and redefines the concept of “compassion” at a TED talk sponsored by the Charter for Compassion. A friend just suggested I check out her radio show, Being, so I was delighted to see Tippett show … Continue reading →

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Sam Harris and the Incredible, Shrinking Idea

Posted on October 21, 2010 by dianesilver

I’m going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to recommend that you NOT buy a book. That’s because there is no there there, no beef on the bun of Sam Harris’ already bestselling The Moral Landscape. Harris throws … Continue reading →

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On the Passing of Philippa Foot

Posted on October 12, 2010 by dianesilver

I’m just a babe when it comes to the formal study of morality, so it was with joy and sadness that I learned today of the work of Philippa Foot. The British philosopher helped establish virtue ethics, of which I’ve … Continue reading →

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