Philosophers’ Corner

  • What Makes a Film Philosophical?

    Why are some films philosophically important? People often assume there’s only one answer to that question: because they reveal important truths about life. But that assumption is profoundly and importantly mistaken.

  • The Temptation to Feel Baffled

    Yet another school shooting. This one happened on Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Florida, an otherwise attractive suburb north of Ft. Lauderdale. I hear many voices expressing bafflement about the lack of legislative response. But I think it’s the wrong response.

  • Is Yoda a Stoic?

    It might surprise you, but according to philosophy professor William Stephens, “The code of the Jedi is Stoicism 101.” The Stoics taught that “true power is self-mastery.” To live a good life, they also believed that one must live in harmony with nature.

  • Is There a Case for Bullshit?

    In Harry Frankfurt’s famous paper “On Bullshit” he argues that because bullshit is “indifference to the truth,” silence is better than bullshit. Stefano Zorzi challenges this view arguing that bullshit can actually help us reach the truth.

  • Baldwin and Racial Justice

    James Baldwin, essayist, novelist, playwright, and searing social critic, has been enjoying a resurgence of interest recently. There is no doubt that Baldwin’s thinking is just as relevant today as it was in the mid twentieth century. Sadly, there is so much that has not yet changed.

  • Millennials and Social Media, a Deadly Mix?

    Millennials are taking part in a dangerous and bizarre activity, the “Tide Pod challenge,” which has gone viral across social media. Perhaps a far more interesting and real hysteria is the moral panic that ensued among the public in reaction to the challenge.

  • A Comic Book for 17th-Century Philosophy

    Interested in learning more about 17th-century philosophy, but from a graphic novel? Father-son duo Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler co-authored Heretics!—a graphic novel that explains the history of philosophy during this period.

  • #FrancisOnFilm: Three Billboards

    People who have been grievously harmed may be angry and may believe that such anger is morally justified. But under what circumstances is such anger justified? In what forms may it be permissibly expressed? Three Billboards provides a rich basis for considering themes about the morality of anger.

  • Fatal Attraction

    Regular readers know that I have a longstanding interest in the appeal of Donald Trump, and the social and psychological forces that catapulted him into power. What is this personal magnetism certain people who rise to leadership positions seem to exude that many find irresistible?

  • The Urbanist Delusion

    In a polemical critque, author Nikil Saval argues that Amazon has bankrupted “the ideology of urbanism.” So what was this ideology? And how has Amazon’s search for new urban headquarters revealed “the urbanist delusion”?

  • Reasons to Donate to Philosophy

    A recent donation by a billionaire investor challenges the common perception that philosophy is impractical and disconnected with the pursuit of economic gains. Bill Miller gave $75 million to the philosophy department at Johns Hopkins University, saying that philosophy benefitted him incredibly as an investor.

  • Stranger Feelings

    At much insistence from my friends, I’ve started watching the Netflix hit series Stranger Things. One of the great things about the show is that it raises philosophical questions about emotions people experience when taking in frightening fictional events.

  • Gender Fluidity & Social Construction

    It is popular in certain circles to think of gender as a fluid spectrum: People can fall on many points between “very feminine” and “very masculine,” and where they fall can change over time. But perhaps the gender spectrum is more viscose than fluid.

  • Fanon, Violence, and the Struggle Against Colonialism

    Frantz Fanon was quite a provocative fellow. In his most influential work, The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon says that “For the colonized, life can only materialize from the rotting cadaver of the colonist.”

  • Is there a real you?

    Often we are told that spending time alone, meditating, taking the Meyers-Briggs test, or traveling…

  • What props up morality?

    Is morality like a leaning tower, with virtue increasing as the floors increase? If so, how would the tower be supported, especially considering self-sacrficing altruistic behavior, a type of behavior at the very top?