What is impartiality for a judge deciding something like a legal case? I'm not asking about an impartial decision by the judge, but about an impartial situation. For instance, I'm necessarily partial (in this sense) when deciding a case concerning myself. But it seems that I'm also partial when deciding a case concerning my children, since I love them a lot. A racist is necessarily partial when deciding a case between people from different races, isn't he/she? What about a human deciding a case related to the interests of animals? And what about any decent person deciding a case against a criminal?

Is knowledge based on memories?

Suppose a stranger steals 100$ from me, then has second thoughts and puts it back, before I ever come to look for or need the 100$. If discovered, should he be punished? Why or why not?

Are there any philosophers that affirm the substantiality of consciousness without either falling into dualism or property dualism? I personally think that mind is a genuine reality but I'm not so certain that it is a substance in the sense that it is a reality with purely mental properties that exists separately from anything else. But I personally don't think property dualism is a viable alternative either.

Breaking up with a partner can be very hurtful for him or her. Should I admit that I cheated on him/her and that this is the reason for me to question our relationship or should I rather keep the secret in order not to hurt him/her more than necessary?

How drunk is too drunk to consent? Lets take several scenarios. A karaoke bar which relies on drunk patrons for entertainment. At least some of those people will inevitably regret their performance. If they were in there right minds they would never have done such a thing but nobody really cared about that. If a person has sex with a person who was so drunk that they had sex with someone they wouldn't normally have sex with then some people consider that bad. Others don't. Depending on how drunk the person was some might consider it rape but another person would disagree. What is the appropriate standard then for consent? I think they if a person is 'blotto' then it is likely rape but to be honest I think a person has to be extremely drunk to be unable to consent to sex, for example so drunk they don't know what is going on. I don't think impaired judgment is a standard to go on. I would also suggest that there is a degree of prudery in the idea that the ramifications of merely having sex do to bad...

Given how evil slavery was isn't it inappropriate that we (Americans) have portraits of pro-slavery politicians on our money?

If i define philosopher as lover of wisdom, how can i be sure that its a rational,critical and systematic investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct(one of nowadays favoured definitions of philosophy, it seems to me)that brings wisdom? It seems quite bit too dogmatic to me. It seems like these epithets are implying the only way through one can gain wisdom, but what if there are others means to gain wisdom?

An atheist friend and I (I am a theist) had a long series of discussions about the existence of god, and his comments made quite an impression on me. I found what he said so stimulating, in fact, that I beagn to read more philosophy of religion to help me better understand the nature of the issues raised. One question, however, is a bit puzzling, and I have not read much about it, though I have seen it raised in atheist/theist debates about the existence of god. The issue is simply falsifiabilty: how can we know if some occurrence of anything is an act of god and therefore, say, the result of prayer, or the result or effect of natural processes? For example, if I pray for a sick relative and she recovers, I can say god healed her; but I can also rightly argue that medical science healed her; or, even more precisely, physicians using medical knowledge stabilized her body so that it could heal itself. I know many theists regularly thank god for certain acts (many of which they pray for) that could easily be...

Do you think jealousy is morally wrong or is it a natural thing to be jealous?