Query:

If you don't mind, is it coherent for there to be such a thing as an "unwanted desire"?  Or would that be an oxymoron?  Someone might say that to desire not to desire P means nothing more than not desiring P -- but that seems wrong.

I am delighted to announce that my new book Pandemic of Lunacy: How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy is now available for pre-order from Creed & Culture.

Query:

Doubtlessly you’ve received other emails already since the events that took place around Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but I know no other place to ask for guidance so I must ask.

In your living memory, has the United States political climate after World War II ever been this bad?

Recently I read a news story purporting to give the results of a statistical study of the politically motivated violence in recent generations.  I am resisting the temptation to comment on the timing.

Query:

Some people blur the distinction between mental illness and moral wrong by ascribing certain behaviors to mental illness when they are in fact simply evil acts.  Have you ever addressed this interesting topic?

Today’s post concerns the nature of logic.  It will bore some readers, interest others, and fascinate a few.  Read on to find out which kind you are.

Aristotle famously distinguished between theoretical syllogisms (which describe how we consider what is the case) and practical syllogisms (which describe how we decide what to do).