Jon Robson

In this paper I argue that the growing block theory of time has rather surprising, and hitherto unexplored, explanatory benefits when it comes to certain enduring philosophical puzzles concerning death. In particular, I claim the growing block theorist has readily available and convincing answers to the following questions: Why is it an evil to be dead but not an evil to be not yet born? How can death be an evil for the dead if they no longer exist to suffer it? When is death an evil for the one who dies? The ability to give such answers is a significant, but by no means decisive, advantage for the growing block view of time.

You're not as clever as you think you are. Nor for that matter are you as good a driver, teacher or romantic partner as you take yourself to be and, as if that wasn't bad enough, you are also considerably less popular than you have hitherto believed. Finally – and crucially for the argument of this paper – I contend that your abilities as an aesthetic judge are considerably less impressive than you take them to be. To avoid descending into name calling it's worth pointing out that such claims apply to the vast majority of people – myself, somewhat paradoxically, included.

Veronica Mars's hometown harbors a whole range of social ills. Neptune provides a very poor environment for nurturing trusting relationships. A typical resident of Neptune may quite reasonably be reluctant ever to trust fully his or her neighbors, co‐workers, and even closest friends. Veronica Mars is a far from being a typical resident of Neptune. Veronica is atypical in ways that should make her even less trusting than others in Neptune. It seems that there are some people whom Veronica genuinely trusts—at least some of the time: her father Keith, Wallace Fennel and Logan Echolls.. This chapter analyzes whether Veronica genuinely trusts anyone. It first explains what 'trust' really means. Veronica's relationship with Keith, her daddy, is the best place to look for a genuinely trusting relationship in Veronica's life. The trust between them isn't perfect. Sadly, the distrust between father and daughter goes much deeper than that.

In a recent article Mark Ian Thomas Robson argues that there is a clear contradiction between the view that possible worlds are a part of God's nature and the theologically pivotal, but philosophically neglected, claim that God is perfectly beautiful. In this article I show that Robson's argument depends on several key assumptions that he fails to justify and as such that there is reason to doubt the soundness of his argument. I also demonstrate that if Robson's argument were sound then this would be a problem for all classical theists and not just those who hold the possible worlds view