Back Issues
Issue 30
December 2000 / January 2001
EDITORIAL
A Matter of Life & Death
by Rick Lewis
NEWS
CRIME & PUNISHMENT
The Injustice of Punitive Justice
We take their money, their freedom, sometimes their lives, but opinions differ over exactly what we are trying to achieve, how we should go about it and what justifies it anyway. Jane Forsey on the punishment of criminals.
The American Death Penalty
Is George W. Bush a serial killer? Terri Murray attacks the death penalty with the help of two prisoners executed by the state - Socrates and Jesus.
OVERVIEW
Philosophy & Disability
Anita Silvers describes a booming area of philosophical enquiry and explains how considering the perspectives of the disabled can help philosophy in general.
OTHER ARTICLES
Interpretations: The Sound of Action
In the latest in our series of personal views of philosophy, Lisa Kemmerer describes how thinking changes lives...
Might You Not Have Been You?
J. J. C. Smart on cricket and counterfactuals.
Leibniz and the Leaves: Beyond Identity
Angels, humans, the leaves on a tree: is each one unique or just an example of its kind? Peter Pesic explains why Leibniz thought even leaves are individuals.
Necessary Illusions
Roger Caldwell on nature's little white lies.
The Mark of Zombie
These days philosophers of mind talk a lot about zombies, to illustrate ideas about the nature of consciousness. Edward Ingram thinks they are all crazy.
The Library of Living Philosophers: Seyyed Hossein Nasr
by Oliver Leaman
The Many Worlds of David Deutsch
Why do some physicists now believe that there are many parallel universes very like our own? And if there are, how will this help us build faster computers?
INTERVIEW
David Deutsch
He is a distinguished quantum physicist and a member of the Centre for Quantum Computation at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University. He has received the Paul Dirac Prize and Medal from the Institute of Physics for 'outstanding contributions to theoretical physics'. He recently talked with Filiz Peach about his work and hopes.
COMPETITION RESULTS
You Won't Know the Difference So You Can't Make the Choice
says Robin Beck
Neo's Choice: Truth versus Happiness in Fear and Trembling
by Joel McCrum
COLUMNS
Dear Socrates
Our celebrity columnist answers readers' questions.
Moral Moments: Apt Apologies
by Joel Marks
LETTERS
Opinions on Truth, Justice & the American Way, Nietzsche, the Singing Revolutionaries, and more...
BOOKS
Is truth about the way the world is, or is it about what is convenient for society? Les Reid takes a look at a modern pragmatist and asks: Who's Afraid of Richard Rorty?
FILMS
In another intrepid exploration of the possibilities of the silver screen, our very own movie maestro Thomas Wartenberg takes notes on an experimental new film called Time Code.
SHORT STORY
The Big Question
Can the great philosophers of the past help us to answer the questions that really matter to us? A short story by Mark Noonan.