Over the last few columns, I have been making the case that ethics is as much a work of the imagination as it is of the intellect — we need to be able to imagine what a better world might look like before we can identify ways that might allowRead More

I have spent the last two weeks binge watching The Walking Dead, a strangely gripping series set in a decimated United States after the zombie apocalypse. All the things that make life in 21st century North America comfortable and safe are lost: abandoned cars clog highways, making travel difficult forRead More

In last month’s column, I argued, first, that ethics is concerned not with the world that we actually live in, but with the world that we ought to construct together–with, that is to say, the imaginary world that does not yet exist, but which we might yet create if weRead More

The world we find ourselves in today is often difficult, sometimes frightening and frequently disturbing. It’s hard to watch the evening news and then sleep well at night or even follow our Facebook newsfeeds without realizing that our friends have sharply divergent and incompatible political views which mirror the disagreementsRead More

I have been a member of a number of ethics committees in local health care organizations for a number of years. Entering an ethics meeting at one of these institutions shortly after Christmas, I was surprised to see boxes of chocolates all over the staff room. When I asked whetherRead More

Here we are in 2017, and all around us we see signs of turmoil, angst and politicians running afoul of basic ethical principles! I was going to write about Justin Trudeau’s marvelous tropical Christmas vacation, but I have decided to tackle that topic next month instead, since I think thatRead More

I still remember my first encounter with the marvelous thing known as “the internet.” In the dark and murky past, when few of us owned computers and aImost no one could go on-line at home, we could go to the local mall, and find a store that allowed customers toRead More

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the spaces we move through as our days pass and our lives unfold. While we are all familiar with the concept of physical space—the space we navigate as we drive to work, or wheel our shopping carts through Sobey’s—philosophers also draw attention toRead More

Why do we allow our politicians and public servants to get away with elevated rhetoric that is not reflected in their actions? (Full disclosure: as a professor, I work in the public sector.) Why, when they are caught in an expense scandal or ignore their own promises, do we letRead More

On a beautiful fall day, one that felt more like early September than early October, we set off to spend the afternoon at the 2016 Cabot Trail Writers Festival, making our way through the early autumn woods to the Gaelic College at St. Ann’s. After a brief exploration of theRead More