•  233
    Nowhere to run? Punishing war crimes
    with Michael Clark
    Res Publica 16 (2): 197-207. 2010.
    This paper’s aim is to provide overview of the punishment of war crimes. It considers first the rationale of the law of war, the identification and scope of war crimes, and proceeds to consider the justification of punishing war crimes, arguing for a consequentialist view with side-constraints. It then considers the alternative of reconciliation.
  •  195
    Owning Up
    The Well. 2023.
    This is an accessible summary - online, The Well - 1st September 2023 - of concerns raised in my book 'The Myths We Live By' and my latest, 'How To Think Like a Philosopher: Scholars, Dreamers and Sages Who Can Teach Us How to Live'. Herewith as PDF.
  •  170
    Coy story
    The Philosophers' Magazine 33 (33): 50-54. 2006.
  •  127
    Some teeny extracts from the work - showing how the work covers more than the typical philosophers and how it has a lightness of style.
  •  123
    To Hume It May Concern: learning from thinkers
    The Scotsman 28 34-35. 2023.
    A brief review of my How To Think Like a Philosopher, drawing attention to the valuable thinking of David Hume and some Scottish connections.
  •  122
    ‘...if you learn to think like Peter Cave – with freshness, humour, objectivity and penetration – you will have been amply rewarded.’ :::: Prof. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, University of Notre Dame __________________ Chapter Titles:>>> ___ 1 Lao Tzu: The Way to Tao >>> 2 Sappho: Lover >>> 3 Zeno of Elea: Tortoise Backer, Parmenidean Helper >>> 4 Gadfly: aka ‘Socrates’ >>> 5 Plato: Charioteer, Magnificent Footnote Inspirer – ‘Nobody Does It Better’ >>> 6 Aristotle: Earth-Bound, Walking >>> 7 Epicur…Read more
  •  118
    Reasoning: all at sea?
    The Philosophers' Magazine 72 33-34. 2016.
  •  88
    What on Earth is Humanism?
    with Tim Crane
    The Philosophers' Magazine 41 (41): 55-62. 2008.
    Some people clearly do think of humanism as being a kind of creed or value system. The first “humanist manifesto” published in 1933 talked of humanism as a “new religion”. Nowhere does this idea ring more true than at weekend meetings of Ethical Societies in chilly and austere halls which can resemble Methodist chapels or Christian Scientist temples. It’s hard to resist the cheap shot that a lot of what has passed for atheistical humanism has been a kind of non-conformism without the hymns.
  •  76
    Too self-fulfilling
    Analysis 61 (2). 2001.
  •  73
    The attachment for download here merely references my 5,500-word final and extended article, criticising those who seek to justify Israeli attacks on Gaza. The article is published online by Daily Philosophy, 5th January 2024, link shown below. After a background of facts (probably well-known by readers concerned about the matters), the article examines typical arguments much used in the media as attempts to justify Israel’s determined destruction of Gaza, involving well over twenty thousand Pa…Read more
  •  55
    Peter Cave gets to grips with maths, God and the meaning of life.
  •  54
    The Metaphysics of Love (review)
    The Philosophers' Magazine 16 (16): 60-60. 2001.
  •  53
    Certain paradoxes set us reeling endlessly. In surprise examination paradoxes, pupils' reasonings lead them to reel between expecting an examination and expecting none. With Newcomb's puzzle, choosers reel between reasoning in favour of choosing just one box and choosing two. The paradoxes demand an answer to what it is rational to believe or do. Highlighting other reelings and puzzles, this paper shows that the paradoxes should come as no surprise. The paradoxes demand an end to our reasoning w…Read more
  •  53
    Sex without God
    Think 4 (12): 75-84. 2006.
    Peter Cave juggles sex and God, Wittgenstein and language, and Kant and his lemons, pointing to some irredeemably paradoxical and perilous aspects of erotic love
  •  52
    Frank Ramsey
    The Philosophers' Magazine 19 (19): 53-53. 2002.
  •  52
    Mr Turkey and Humpty Dumpty
    Think 3 (9): 53-56. 2005.
    Look at any investment advertisement and you will encounter: PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUIDE TO FUTURE PERFORMANCE. This statement is a tribute to the power of the Financial Services Authority. Let us see how past performance plays with those down on the farm
  •  51
    John Stuart Mill was born two hundred years ago, on 20 th May, 1806. He died on 7 th May 1873. Peter Cave brings to life some of the thinking of this outstanding philosopher.
  •  48
    Passing the time
    Think 6 (17-18): 67-73. 2008.
    Peter Cave's new book, Can a Robot Be Human? 33 Perplexing Philosophy Puzzles, covers a wide range of perplexities and paradoxes. Here, Peter raises some timely puzzles
  •  47
    A Unified Pyrrhonian Resolution of the Toxin Problem, The Surprise Examination and Newcomb’s Puzzle
    with Laurence Goldstein
    American Philosophical Quarterly 45 (4). 2008.
    The three puzzles here considered are shown to have a common structure. And in each, an agent is thrust into a cleverly contrived deliberatively unstable situation. The paper advocates a resolutely Pyrrhonian abandonment of the futile reasoning in which the agent is trapped and advocates an alternative strategy for escape.
  •  46
    With and Without Absurdity: Moore, Magic and McTaggart's Cat
    Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 68 125-149. 2011.
    Here is a tribute to humanity. When under dictatorial rule, with free speech much constrained, a young intellectual mimed; he mimed in a public square. He mimed a protest speech, a speech without words. People drew round to watch and listen; to watch the expressive gestures, the flicker of tongue, the mouthing lips; to listen to – silence. The authorities also watched and listened, but did nothing.
  •  45
    Humour and Paradox Laid Bare
    The Monist 88 (1): 135-153. 2005.
    Successful jokes involve incongruities, but not any incongruity will do—not, for example, one as blatantly bare as an explicit instance of the form p.~p. Substitution in such is no secure generator of fun; and stand-up comedians would be lucky to escape with their lives, if—at the Glasgow Empire on a Saturday night—they delivered one-liners such as “She came from Dungeness and not from Dungeness.” Build-up context, alcohol level, and delivery skills—and it is not impossible that any line, even t…Read more
  •  43
    Bertrand Russell
    The Philosophers' Magazine 34 (34): 80-81. 2006.
  •  41
    Gottfried Leibniz
    The Philosophers' Magazine 38 (38): 80-81. 2007.
  •  40
    Dead People
    Think 2 (5): 83-92. 2003.
    Peter Cave explains why he believes we can and should treat people well, even after they have ceased to exist. We should treat people well; therefore, we should treat dead people well
  •  39
    Irrational believings
    Think 6 (16): 23. 2008.
    Peter Cave reflects on morality and belief in God
  •  36
    Machiavelli
    The Philosophers' Magazine 18 52-52. 2002.
  •  32
    Politics and aesthetics in the arts (review)
    The Philosophers' Magazine 13 (13): 60-60. 2001.
  •  28
    Spinoza and the Case for Philosophy
    Philosophical Quarterly 66 (265): 846-848. 2016.
  •  28
    With and without end
    Philosophical Investigations 30 (2). 2007.
    Ways and words about infinity have frequently hidden a continuing paradox inspired by Zeno. The basic puzzle is the tortoise's – Mr T's – Extension Challenge, the challenge being how any extension, be it in time or space or both, moving or still, can yet be of an endless number of extensions. We identify a similarity with Mr T's Deduction Challenge, reported by Lewis Carroll, to the claim that a conclusion can be validly reached in finite steps. Rejecting common solutions to both challenges, we …Read more