Other Publications

Other Publications

In addition to all the books, stories, and essays found on this site, I occasionally write for other outlets. My work has also been written about by others a few times too. Here are links to the best of what else is out there. I'll list these in reverse order so newer works will always be added to the top.

"Just Deserts: Debating Free Will" by Daniel Dennett and Gregg Caruso

I was very excited to receive my pre-ordered copy of Just Deserts in early 2021. Dan Dennett is an obvious influence and inspiration to all philosophers with an evolutionary view, and I was lucky enough to meet Gregg Caruso a few years ago when he came to Newcastle to debate free will with Christian List. As I raced through JD, I was offered the opportunity to write a review of it, which was subsequently published at 3 Quarks Daily. This book and review really helped me clarify my own position on this metaphysical issue, and I consider it a major accomplishment that both authors have said it was a fine review.

3 Quarks Daily, March 22, 2021

The Michael Shermer Show with David Sloan Wilson

The founder of Skeptic magazine, Michael Shermer, had the eminent biologist David Sloan Wilson on his podcast to discuss David's new novel Atlas Hugged. During a wide-ranging 2-hour discussion, David brought up my published paper on how to bridge the is-ought divide. David called it brilliant, and Michael agreed. That discussion starts at 23:54.

The Michael Shermer Show, January 26, 2021

Atlas Hugged and Evolutionary Philosophy

The eminent evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson published his first novel in late 2020, which is called Atlas Hugged. It's a reimagined sequel to the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged, but it offers a compelling counterargument to that monument to selfishness. As another writer of fiction and philosophy that counters Rand's nonsense, I sent David some of my thoughts on his novel and he asked to discuss them in a public forum. We settled on the Letter Wiki format and had a wonderfully deep exchange there about his book.

Letter Wiki, from December 17, 2020 to January 2, 2021

In Praise of Evolutionary Philosophy

JT Velikovsky — writer, independent scholar, and member of the Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Lab — came across my original philosophy book recently and wrote a long and glowing in-depth review of it. He covers so many details and adds so many of his own thoughts that it basically becomes a #longread version of the book.

"...there are some other pre-existing books on Evolutionary Philosophy...but, they're not as accessible, and easy-to-read."

"In short: Brilliant! Remarkable. Bravo!"

On Writer-ing, December 2020

To stop mass extinction, reform the outdated Victorian harm principle

In this short article, my wife and I summarise some of the main ideas in our peer-reviewed paper "Rebuilding the Harm Principle." We also tie these ideas into broader work being done to fight the extinction crisis that is threatening all life on this planet.

The Conversation, Online Article, September 2020

Mortality Doesn't Make Us Free Either

In this article, I review Martin Hägglund's widely hailed new book This Life: Why Mortality Makes Us Free. Hägglund sets his sights on taking down the fluffy visions of perfect immortality that many religions have for their afterlives. On this, I am in full agreement with Hägglund, but I argue that this does not prove that the opposite is needed. Certain death doesn't give us the "spiritual freedom" that Hägglund longs for, and this tells us something deep about the nature of freedom and the meaning of life. (This article was written before Covid-19, but delayed for publication until This Life came out in paperback, which is why there is no mention of that incredibly affective pandemic.)

The Philosopher, Online Article, August 2020

Evolving Our Trust In Science

In this article, I review an important and timely new book by Naomi Oreskes called Why Trust Science? In addition to the positive review, I argue that evolutionary thinking can help answer Oreskes' question even better. The history and philosophy of science may show that we have to abandon any claims for Truth, but that doesn't mean we should abandon science altogether. Quite the contrary. (This article was very slightly condensed for publication. A full pre-print version is available as a post on my blog.)

The Philosopher, Winter 2020

A Review of My Worldview

Philosopher John Messerly, author of the book The Meaning of Life, asked if he could re-post and review the long essay I wrote that summed up What I Learned from 100 Philosophy Thought Experiments. I was delighted, of course, to hear his opinion on everything I wrote and was grateful for the extra attention I received from his own regular readers too. John (wisely) broke the review down into seven separate posts:

What is a Worldview
1. Epistemology
2. Logic
3. Metaphysics
4. Ethics
5. Aesthetics
6. Politics

ReasonAndMeaning.com, 10 April 2019 — 6 May 2019

Doing Philosophy: Thought Experiments and the Truth About Truth

In September 2018, I was asked to speak at an event to give my thoughts on a book called Doing Philosophy, which was written by Timothy Williamson who is the Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. I was one of four such speakers at the event, where Professor Williamson gave opening remarks, and rebuttals to us as well. This was all set up to be featured in the next edition of The Philosopher (the official journal of the Philosophical Society of England, and the UK's longest-running public philosophy journal, having started in 1923), which was eventually published in December 2018. Due to changes in the time (and space) constraints at the event (and in the journal), my full original 10-minute talk wasn't able to be given (or published), but I shared the complete text on my blog.

The Philosopher, December 2018

Responding to Climate Change Deniers

In April 2018, a local Humanist member gave a talk about being a "climate change sceptic" (better known as a "climate change denier"). I put together a rebuttal of all his arguments, which was published on the group's website. The speaker had taken his information from the standard climate change deniers on the internet so if you ever come across these arguments, my paper provides small, medium, and long details for why they are wrong. Climate change is happening, it is caused by humans, and it is likely to be catastrophic to our civilisation. The more this is known, the better chance we have to address it.

North East Humanists, June 2018

More on Evolution and Ethics

Philosopher John Messerly, author of the book The Meaning of Life, used a blog post on his website to share the detailed comments I sent him about a previous post on evolution and ethics that he wrote. I offered further readings on this subject and then addressed some issues that were raised in his brief history of evolutionary ethics. I was very flattered to see him introduce me to his readers as "an expert in the field."

ReasonAndMeaning.com, 25 December 2017

This View of Life Profile — Alice Andrews

Alice Andrews, a professor of psychology and evolutionary studies at SUNY New Paltz, posted a profile of her work with The Evolution Institute when she became one of their patrons. In this profile, Alice quotes my definition of what "Sacred Naturalism" means to me. (The rest of her work and thought are great too.)

TVOL 1000 with The Evolution Institute, 18 October 2017

Replacing Maslow With An Evolutionary Hierarchy of Needs

In this guest blog post, I propose that Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs would serve us better if it was broadened to include the needs of all of life. All forms of life are related and dependent on one another, so no individual's needs are fully met until all needs are fully met.

Sacred Naturalism Blog on Patheos.com, 4 October 2017

The Misunderstood Metaphor of Draining the Swamp

In this op-ed, I explain how Reagan and Trump both ignored the idea that swamps and governments should not be "drained." I argue instead that we should use best practices from Change Management to study government and clean up the pollution we've dumped in it. These recently discovered methods have been proven to work in both the private and public sectors, but they have yet to be applied across the entire federal government.

Washington Examiner, 9 December 2016

The Call of the Rewild

In this article, I explore the concept of “rewilding”—large-scale conservation efforts aimed at restoring natural processes and wilderness areas—after news that a Netherlands group is trying to bring back the extinct auroch.

TheHumanist.com, 26 April 2016, and Sep/Oct 2016 issue of Humanist magazine

Meaning in Life as Being Part of Cosmic Evolution

Philosopher John Messerly, author of the book The Meaning of Life, uses a blog post on his website to discuss the comments I sent him about his book, wherein I describe my own thoughts on the meaning of life.

ReasonAndMeaning.com, 16 April 2016

Steps Anyone Can Take to Unify and Change the World

Using best practices from the field of change management, I describe practical steps in this blog post that anyone can take to answer Alice Andrews' Call to Unify the Nonreligious.

Sacred Naturalism Blog on Patheos.com, 13 March 2016

When the Human in Humanism Isn't Enough

This cover article I wrote proposes a change to the definition of "humanism" that is used in every issue of the magazine. I argue that the current definition is slightly speciesist and I use a thought experiment to show why we need to care about more than just humans when we consider our goals and morals. (In the following issue, philosopher Peter Singer wrote a letter to the editor about my article that began, "Ed Gibney is correct." I quote that out of context all the time now.)

TheHumanist.com, 23 Feb 2016, and cover of Mar/Apr 2016 issue of Humanist magazine

An Atheist’s Place in the Big Tent of Sacred Naturalism

A blog post I wrote about how an atheist such as myself uses a secular description of the word "sacred" to understand the message of Sacred Naturalism and become attuned to it.

Sacred Naturalism Blog on Patheos.com, 28 October 2015

Who (or What) Chooses Healthy Thoughts?

Psychology professor emeritus John A. Johnson discusses my definition of insanity on his Psychology Today blog. Johnson sums up his evaluation by saying, "I like this definition because it meshes well with what we know at this point in time concerning the most effective therapies for psychological problems." He and I also discuss free will in the comments to the post.

Cui Bono blog on PsychologyToday.com, 18 August 2015

Learn Morality From the Bee Gees

Blogger AtThatMatt discusses my ASEBL Journal article about bridging Hume's is-ought divide. He starts by saying, "Gibney’s essay is already such a good summary of this framework that I can’t add much," but then Matt introduces a nice concept he calls "relevantism," which reinforces the need to stay alive to stay relevant.

AtThatMatt.com, 19 July 2015

The Philosophical Novelist, Ed Gibney: Always Evolving

Small publisher Bibliotekos asked me to write an author profile for their site and I was happy to do so considering their mission is: "To produce a website (or books) of literary merit that addresses important issues, complex ideas, and enduring themes." I found their guideline questions very thought provoking.

Bibliotekos, 16 July 2015

Evolution and Ethics

Philosopher John Messerly, author of the book The Meaning of Life, uses a blog post on his website to discuss my ASEBL Journal article about bridging Hume's is-ought divide. Messerly notes some standard critiques that others might state (answered here), but also says, "Gibney is not a professional philosopher, but I found myself receptive to his argument nonetheless."

ReasonAndMeaning.com, 14 July 2015

Proposing an Objective, Godless Basis for Morality

An essay I wrote that summarises my ASEBL Journal article about bridging Hume's is-ought divide.

TheHumanist.com, 23 June 2015, and Jul/Aug 2015 issue of Humanist magazine

A Review of My Worldview

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