Dick Van Vector
Dick Van Vector is a freelance journalist and professional academic.
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- 5/23/2007
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Ph.D. (candidate) ,M.A., B.A. (philosophy), B.J. (journalism)Favorites
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Displaying Results 1 - 90 (of 90) for All Content
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Trick or Treat? (How About Both!)Children trick you on halloween by dressing up, so why not trick them back by disguising healthy food as candy? Here I give some suggestions. -
What to Do When Macbook Air Internal Speakers Stop WorkingHere I provide a few pieces of advice for those experiencing a problem that occurs when Macbook Air computers suddenly quit outputting sound.
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Top 5 Ways that Sarah Palin Could Become a Disney HeroMatt Damon recently suggested that Sarah Palin in office would be like a bad Disney movie. In this top 10 list, I consider how Palin could use her hockey-mom skills to be a Disney hero.
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Review of Phil Mickelson, the BMW Championship and the FedExCupThis piece previews the third leg of golf's FedExCup playoffs at the BMW Championship and considers the consequences that will ensue if Mickelson decides to skip. -
How My Family Has Handled a Grandmother with Alzheimer's DiseaseThis piece recounts personal struggles with a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's.
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Restaurant Review: El Vaquero's in Moberly, MOThis piece reviews a restaurant in Moberly, MO. -
Best Places to Study at the University of MissouriThis piece provides an experienced guide to finding the best study spots at the University of Missouri. -
Three Catch Phrases Commonly Said by Loyal BushiesThis essay evaluates three common catch phrases uttered by loyal Bush supporters, or 'Bushies'. -
Thoughts on Micheal Foucault's Madness and CivilizationThis essay investigates some themes from Foucault's 'Madness and Civilization' an interpretive history madness in Europe. -
Is it Responsible to Ban Harry Potter Books?This essay evaluates a prominent argument for banning Harry Potter books from library shelves. -
How to Apply to Graduate Programs for Studies in HumanitiesThis piece gives helpful advice from experience pertaining to graduate school applications in the humanities. -
What is the Difference Between Continental and Analytic Philosophy?This essay clarifies how the difference betweeen continental and analytic philosophy has changed since the early 20th century. Additionally, I argue for the idea that a person ought not fall within either class under the current definition. -
What Measures Intrinsic Value?This paper considers two distinctions in value and then presents two tests for assessing intrinsic value. -
How Patriotism is Possible This 4th of JulyThis essay distinguishes between two senses of being 'patriotic' and shows how one is more appropriate than the other. -
How to Master the GRE Analytic Writing SectionThis piece gives helpful advice from a former testtaker as to how to best prepare for the analytic writing section of the GRE. -
How Does U.K. Socialized Health Care Actually Work?This article explains how the U.K.'s socialized health care system actualy works. -
5 Tips for Having a Safe WeddingThis article provides advice for how to have a responsible wedding that is true to you. -
Restaurant Review: Ruby Tuesday's in Columbia, MOThis piece reviews Ruby Tuesday's restaurant in Columbia, MO -
Top 10 Most Surprising Moments in GolfThis piece lists what this golf fan takes to be the top 10 most surprising moments.
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St. John's College: The Best Undergraduate CurriculaThis piece defends the great books curricula used at St. John's college.
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Is it Ever Rational to Cry?This article considers the relationship between crying, on the one hand, and rationality on the other.
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Golfing at Augusta National: A Haven for BigotryThis essay blasphemes what golfers hold sacred: the Masters.
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Why Don't Americans Care About Soccer?This essay explores a strange phenomenon in American culture, namely, that Americans don't care about a sport that the rest of the world loves.
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Bertrand Russell on Definite DescriptionsThis essay exmaines the problem that inspired Russell's theory of definite descriptions, and how he went about solving the problem.
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Cause and Effect: A Look at Claims About CausationThis essay introduces and evaluates some basic issues in the metaphysics of causation.
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How to Be a Moral ObjectivistThis essay explains why moral relativism is false, and why moral objectivism should be defended. Additionally, I explain some ways that one can go about defending the view.
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Who is the Next Bob Dylan?This piece considers three contestants for the contemporary title of 'Next Bob Dylan'.
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Restaurant Review: Hooters in Columbia, MissouriThis article reviews Hooters' restaurant in Columbia, MO.
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Why High School Football is a Dirty Creature of HabitThis piece criticizes the inconsistencies that exist between school's purported mission statements, and their practice of placing high school football on a pedestal too high to be seen from the classroom.
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How to Enter, Compete and Win Money in Golf Calcutta ScramblesThis piece makes clear how Calcutta scrambles work, and what you need to know to makey money from them.
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Abortion and the 2008 Presidential ElectionThis piece rejects the following widely held assumption: that if a candidate shares your views on abortion, then this constitutes a presumptive case for voting for that candidate. I give several reasons for dispelling this mistaken view.
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Christian Ethics and the Euthyphro DilemmaThis essay explains and evaluates what is at issue with the Euthyphro Objection, first voiced by Socrates, which poses a 'double edged sword' to defenders of the Divine Command Theory version of Christian Ethics.
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Kant and the Inquiring Murderer ObjectionThis essay isolates a key objection to the Kantian Categorial Imperative and considers possible avenues of defense.
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Snoring with Your Mouth OpenThis essay chronicles my attempts to combat an acquaintence who snores in public with an open mouth.
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Free Lunch from Long John Silver's Seafood RestaurantThis essay explains how I was able to eat for free at Long John Silvers, by ordering a barrage of freebies that were enough to fill me up.
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Tiger Woods and Carnoustie: Previewing Golf's 2007 British OpenThis essay argues that Tiger's two second-place finishes in majors this year will give him the 'burn' needed to dissect the course and the field at Carnoustie in this year's British Open.
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The Best iTunes News Stations?This piece highlights what I take to be the best news stations available from iTunes radio.
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Plato of Athens: Three Common MisconceptionsThis article points explains three common misconceptions about the great Plato of Athens.
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How to Design a LaTeX Styled Academic Paper on Microsoft WordThis paper explains how to design an academic paper that has the aesthetic quality of a LaTeX-produced paper, but does not require that you use LaTeX. All you need is Microsoft Word.
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Russia, Belarus and the Ethics of Cloud SeedingThis essay considers the ethics of cloud seeding, as conducted by Russia after the Chernobyl meltdown.
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Restaurant Review: Jerry's Cafe in Moberly, MissouriHere I review a popular restaurant in Moberly, MO.
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Walmart's Organic Section is BittersweetThis piece clarifies what is at issue for those who wish to buy organic foods, can only afford them at the price Wal-Mart offers, but wish to not support Wal-Mart.
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Is Climate Change Just a Matter of Opinion?This piece analyses a classic but misguided objection that climatology is but a 'matter of opinion.'
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Top 10 Characteristics of an Art SnobThis piece outlines ten features commonly shared by the ever-notorious Art-Snob
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The Most Efficient Way to Prepare for the GREThis piece outlines some helpful study techniques that can be used when preparing for the GRE exam.
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Top 10 Ways People Cheat on the Golf CourseThis game highlights 10 of the most despicable ways to cheat at golf, as witnessed by a former collegiate golfer.
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Is Underwear Really Necessary?This paper criticizes reasons for wearing underwear.
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Where to Watch the Fireworks in Higbee, MOThis piece offers advice for those wishing to watch the fireworks in Higbee, MO, from a county local.
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A Study-Abroad Guide to LondonThis piece offers suggestions (based on personal experience) to would-be studiers abroad in London, England.
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Student-affordable Eating Around Stirling Universitythis piece offers advice, based on my experience at Stirling, for budgeted students attending there or studying abroad, regarding where to eat and where to avoid.
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Top 10 Reasons to Shower like a EuropeanThis article gives the top 10 reasons to shower like a European (i.e. less frequently than Americans).
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Why Not Eastern Intellectual Tradition?This piece exploits a problem that arises when Western curricula ignore the contributions of Eastern thought.
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What Should the Inquiring Mind Want to Read This Summer?This piece gives three summer reading suggestions, all which are literary classics. I explain why each classic is an appropriate summer read.
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The Perfect NCAA Bracket Scam: The Odds of Picking a Perfect Bracket Are Much Higher Than You Could ImagineThis article explains how to go about conducting a lucrative march-madness business, and what to avoid
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Most Important Philosophical Works in the Last 100 YearsThis article presents and briefly describes some of the most important philosophical works in the last 100 years, organized by philosophical sub-discipline.
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What is the Ideal American Life?I argue here for reasons to reject that the Americanized ideal of the 'Good Life' is mistaken. It falsely implies that doing nothing is as good as you can get.
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To Stay the Course: Spotlighting the Elusive Motto and Its EndorsersThis article argues that 'staying the course' is not a maxim defensible by either any axiomatic principle or by any facts about a particular course of action.
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Are You or a Loved One a Pseudo-Intellectual Hipster?This piece identifies a type of insincere person, the pseudo-intellectual hipster, and instructs readers as to how to go about determining who is a PIH.
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Pros and Cons of UtilitarianismThis piece explains Utilitarianism and offers what amounts to a devastating counterexample to the view.
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When Mike Tyson Met A.J. AyerThis piece evaluates a famous and fascinating scuffle between a logician and a boxer, and argues that reason is a more effective weapon than brute strength
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50 Years in a Siberian Prison or 10 Days to Live?In this piece, I propose a difficult and interesting dilemma, which is philosophically troubling and is sure to test the reader's intuition.
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Neo-Pragmatic Postmodernism: Is Richard Rorty a Philosopher?This paper argues against the current trend of labeling postmodernist philosophers as mere expounders of literary criticism.
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Dummett, Frege and Wittgenstein: A Dying Ideal in Academic PublishingThis piece argues that the early 20th century attitude toward academic publishing is preferable to the quantity-over-quality standard of today.
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Cervantes on Truth and Virtue: Cervantes' Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity Sends a Message Often MisconstruedThis piece argues for a non-standard interpretation of one of Cervantes' great parables
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Will the 'Drug' Card Be Played Against Barack Obama?This article considers Obama's history of drugs in his past, and argues that this should not be a relevant factor in evaluating him as a candidate, even though it is likely that his opponents will use it as an easy way to cheap shot this rising star.
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How Do You Know If You're a Hippie?This tests evaluates different criteria employed to assess hippiehood
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How to Structure an Ethics Class: A Guide for Selecting a Syllabus, Designing Exams and Keeping Students InterestedThis piece gives some experienced advice for would-be teachers of Ethics
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Libertarianism and the 'Biconditional' FallacySome libertarians, pace John Locke, hold an especially strong view of the relationship between rights violations and moral facts. I give reasons here to reject the strong view.
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Golfers: How to Hit a Sand ShotThis piece explains how to go about hitting three distinct types of sand-shots
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The God Gamble: Should You Take Pascal's Wager?In this paper, I present arguments against the reasoning used by French philosopher Blaise Pascal, who gave a rationality-based argument for accepting Christianity.
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What is Philosophical Postmodernism?This article clarifies some key thesis shared by philosophical positions characterized as 'postmodernist.'
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Who is the World's Most Eccentric Genius?This piece argues that Grigory Perelman, by virtue of his eccentric work on the Poincare conjecture, deserves a place as one of the most elusive geniuses of all.
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How to Argue Against a SolipsistSolipsists believe that only they exist. These people are difficult against whom to argue. I provide here several methods of refuting the solipsistic argument.
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How to Make the Greatest Tabasco Bloody MaryThis piece provides clear instructions for making a great Bloody Mary.
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Summer Resolution: Go Without a Television!This article explains why summer is an excellent time to ditch the television for more enriching, seasonally appropriate activities
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A How-to Guide to Changing Your Golf Grip: Re-Grip Your Golf Clubs This Summer!This article makes clear, in layman's terms, how to re-grip a golf club.
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Worst Summer Vacation: Midland, TexasThis piece defends reasons why Midland, Texas, is perhaps the worst possible destination for summer travel.
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Golf's Second Major: A Preview of the 2008 U.S. OpenThis article considers what we can expect in the upcoming U.S. Open, as well as what would be the ideal matchup, which is Woods and Mickelson.
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Three Ways to Be Eco-Friendly This SummerThis article gives three suggestions for how to be eco-friendly this summer.
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Summer Getaway in ScotlandThis piece offers a variety of reasons for making Scotland your summer travel destination
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Online Word Games: Weboggle Versus ScrabulousMove over, Solitare. There are much better and productive ways to fill your 'break' time whilst promoting mental sharpness. In fact, there are two games which I personally find to be heads and shoulders above the rest. I will explain these both in a brief comparison here.
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Best and Worst Golf for the Value in Central MissouriThis course compares and contrasts golf courses in Central Missouri with respect to value for the dollar
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How to Shotgun a BeerThe following conveys instructions for shotgunning a beer effectively, quickly and methodically.
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Where to Go for a Night in Stirling, ScotlandHere I compare some of the nightlife venues in Stirling, Scotland, broken down and categorized with respect to what one might be desiring out of her evening.
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Golfers: How to Hit a Draw Off the TeeHere I give two tips that will help golfers to draw the ball, rather than slice.
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Public Transportation: United States Versus United KingdomHere I compare U.S. and U.K. day trips of similar distance, and conclude that the U.S. trip is more expensive, hectic and pollutive.
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Tiger Woods and Political NeutralityTiger Woods has been elevated and apotheosized as nothing short of a Homeric hero. However, when it comes to politics and responsibility, Woods might have a tragic flaw.
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Vijay Singh and the Case for Women on the PGA TourThis essay examines the 'argument from disanalogy', which is used to deny women privileges to play on the traditionally male PGA golf tour.
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Avoid Campus Express in Stirling, ScotlandHere I will recount an anecdote which represents a larger trend of poor business practices by Campus Express in Stirling, Scotland
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Democratic Candidate Dennis Kucinich and the Electability QuestionDennis Kucinich is frequently referred to as 'unelectable.' Here, I shall challenge the assumption that underly this criticism.