Archive - Uncommon Wisdom

Economy productivity as a civic virtue

Why Mike Rowe (TV's Dirty Jobs) is righter than he knows about productivity as a virtue

Jul 8 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

Fights, rights, and the self-defense economy

Mixed martial arts foster valuable self-defense know-how, especially for novices

Jul 2 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

June 2025

Are holes real? Yes? No? Maybe so?

The puzzle over the status of holes is a case study in doing philosophy

Jun 27 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

Could empathy be more effective?

Effective altruism asks how best to use finite resources for good. This approach could be applied to empathy as finite resource.

Jun 24 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

I was interviewed

In this interview, I discuss my background, teaching and research. A great read if you've curious about the (odd) mind of an academic philosopher.

Jun 19 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

Talk is cheap, hormones ain't

Costly medical interventions convey more information about the gender of someone than cheap(er) talk

Jun 16 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

'We're living in a society!'

A Canadian philosopher explains why George Costanza is the GOAT of philosophy, why he would take a Star Trek Teleporter, and more, eh!

Jun 12 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

and

Philippe-Antoine Hoyeck

Some of my latest published ramblings for your reading pleasure

Jun 9 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

ChatGPT attends university

When colleges ban AI tools like ChatGPT, they (inadvertently) select for the sneaky, savvy students

Jun 6 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

The time shuffling machine and fatalism

You are fated to read this article. And if you don't believe me, you should read this very convincing article

Jun 3 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

May 2025

Introducing Uncommon Wisdom

Introducing this Substack to my many new and recent subscribers!

May 31 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

The problem of evil and too much freedom

Even if there is free will, using it to justify evil arguably gets the moral weights wrong

May 30 •

Jimmy Alfonso Licon

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