Dear philosophers, I would just like to ask if you think "common-sense arguments" are "unphilosophical". I know it depends on what we mean by those two terms, so if you could give me some idea, I'd be very thankful. More power, Selene

A girlfriend showed me a short story in which a group of women on a kibbutz broke the hymen of an infant girl in a ceremonial, ritualistic manner. The act deprived any male from doing so--a kind of preemptive strike against male dominace, violence, etc. My question is, was this choice ethical? Is belief in an ideology or movement like feminism reason enough to alter the body of an infant who cannot object? If Jews perform a bris on infant males as a foundational religious practice, why not accept hymen perforation on secular feminist grounds? Thanks for your consideration.

Suppose I have a friend who keeps a stack $100 bills under her bed. For some strange reason she does not ever wish to spend the money; she just plans on letting it sit there. What's more surprising is the fact that she never counts it. So she would never know some went missing. Am I justified in taking a bit of the cash to, say, buy her flowers? She would be pleased to receive the gift, I'm sure; at the same time she would not have the slightest idea that the money use to pay for it was her own. So as far as she can tell she only benefits, meaning I'd be doing here favor. Yet, isn't it obviously cruel of me to even consider duping her like that? What is going on here?

George W. Bush has, along with many others, made the claim that marriage is the fundamental basis of civilization. Is there any reasonable argument to be made supporting this claim? If not, is there another institution that makes a better candidate for being the fundamental basis of civilization?

I get the impression that arguments for nature preservation hinge largely on the idea that what industrial nations are doing to the earth is somehow "unnatural," that in uprooting forests and clubbing baby seals we are throwing off some "balance" in nature. If we as humans are in fact animals, however, in what sense could anything we do as a species be considered "unnatural"? aren't we and our actions necessarily an internal element to that "balance" many say we have disrupted from without? Locusts destroy fields; we, rainforests -- what's the difference? I understand that it may be in our best interest to preserve earth's flora and fauna (i.e., we shouldn't drive pandas to extinction, because they are nice to have around), but many seem to argue that our exploitation of the environment is somehow "wrong", and I don't know how this sentiment can be justified. -andy

Why aren’t the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution - James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, etc., people who wrote the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers, and a lot more - considered great Philosophers up there with Locke and Rousseau? The Federalist Papers were used to justify the constitution, and the anti-federalists papers used to justify a bill of rights are great philosophical works, with more completing arguments than anything Locke tried to say (which is a whole different question, with its many flaws - and how Locke wasn’t as much an influence on the Founding Fathers as people once thought). What these people wrote has had as much influence over the world as any other "great" philosopher - but they are not taught as philosophers and are only learned about in history class. Any reason for this?

Do students of philosophy have much to gain by travel, study abroad, or cultural immersion?

I am really interested with philosophy and I can get why many things are put into question. What I do not get is why some people even bother with questions such as: Can there ever be a truly random event? Why should we even care about something like this? It seems like the answer (if it were ever reached) would add no value to our lives. Steve, 17

Locke and Reid wrote essays, Hume and Berkeley wrote treatises, Reid also wrote an inquiry and Hume wrote an enquiry, etc. What's the difference between an essay, an enquiry, an inquiry and a treatise? Thanks, T

If someone (person A) was put into the position to consider someone (person B) as a possible romantic interest, is it ethical to consider person B's lack of physical attractiveness a kind of automatic off/no switch for person A's consideration? - Michael f