Ariel Pontes

Secular-humanist, web developer, occasional blogger. Interested in philosophy, science, tech, internet, free culture, social change, etc.

BDSM toys on red sheets

Are pain and pleasure all that matters?

by Ariel Pontes
December 1, 2020November 7, 2021

What utilitarians mean when they promote pleasure over pain

Abortion is harmless

by Ariel Pontes
November 1, 2020November 2, 2020

Why the abortion debate shouldn’t be about rights

$Math symbols on blackboard$

A sufficiently objective morality

by Ariel Pontes
September 17, 2020September 18, 2020

Refuting moral relativism without metaphysics

Political hashtags: abortion is murder, me too, dairy is rape, fuck the police, black lives matter, meat is murder, no means no, taxation is theft, not all men, all lives matter.

Performative language

by Ariel Pontes
July 8, 2020July 8, 2020

How philosophy of language can help us communicate in a polarized society

People hold signs at a rally held in opposition to a proposed bill that would remove parents’ ability to claim a philosophical exemption to opt their school-age children out of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., Feb. 2019.

Conspiracy theories

by Ariel Pontes
May 9, 2020July 8, 2020

Why coronavirus and vaccine conspiracies are implausible

Jordan Peterson giving a lecture

On Jordan Peterson

by Ariel Pontes
December 27, 2019July 8, 2020

A review of 12 Rules for Life and other content

Tarot cards on a table

What should we believe?

by Ariel Pontes
September 29, 2019July 8, 2020

The importance of epistemic responsibility in the information age

Animal Rights March in London

Vegans and omnivores must join forces

by Ariel Pontes
June 15, 2019July 8, 2020

For the good of the animals and the planet

Lions having sex

All animals have sex for pleasure

by Ariel Pontes
November 22, 2018July 8, 2020

If you don’t understand this, you don’t understand evolution

No rent for Gypsies, Arabs or blacks in Bucharest

by Ariel Pontes
June 15, 2018July 8, 2020

They are dirty and violent and the landlord doesn’t want any trouble