Philosophers’ Corner

  • Should Belief Aim at Truth?

    Should your beliefs aim at the truth? Or should you just believe whatever makes your life better, whether it’s true or not? How could false beliefs ever make your life better?

  • Because You Are, I Am

    The phrase “I think, therefore I am” or “Cogito ergo sum” might make Descartes the most-quoted philosopher of the last 400 years. But what’s the role of other people in the self? Does the self really come from one person’s solitary mind—or do the people around us inform who we refer to when we use the word “I”?

  • Watered-down Philosophy for Tech Bros

    So-called “practical” philosophy is gaining popularity in Silicon Valley among tech executives who want to eliminate “bullshit” in their business lives. But is this trend doing more harm than good for the discipline? Does the notion that there is a “practical” philosophy imply that any philosophy not catering to the tech bro is therefore “impractical”?

  • Nozick, Libertarianism, and Philosophy

    What are the merits of Robert Nozick’s libertarian, small-government philosophy? Why did Nozick move away from libertarianism as his views on philosophy changed? And what was his vision for the future of analytic philosophy?

  • The Limits of Medical Consent

    Is it ever permissible to force medical treatment on a patient against their will? What if they are so emotionally distraught that they can’t think straight? What if they might die without the treatment?

  • [AUDIO] What Constitutes Consent?

    California law defines sexual consent as “Yes means Yes”. In other words, the consent is “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity,” that can be revoked at any time. However, does this definition properly capture what constitutes consent?

  • Defense of Transracialism Goes Awry

    In a recent article titled “In Defense of Transracialism” for the feminist philosophy journal Hypatia, philosopher Rebecca Tuvel penned a defense of “transracialism” through an argument that the logic which supports transgender individuals also should lead one to support transracial individuals in their decision to “change” races.

  • Is Human Monogamy Genetic?

    Are humans “genetically programmed” towards monogamy? Does monogamy ensure that offspring are cared for? What bearing does this have on the ethics of cheating in a romantic relationship? And how do we account for polyamory?

  • All Machine and No Ghost

    Hillary Clinton, E.T., and the Terminator walk into a bar, and plop themselves down on stools, and they each order a beer. How do physicalist theories of mind explain what’s going on in their respective minds? Read our third and final installment on the mind-body problem to find out.

  • Slower Reading for Better Philosophy

    A new book by Michelle Boulous Walker, Slow Philosophy: Reading Against the Institution, critiques the rapid tempos that adversely affect our relation to the world. Boulous Walker’s focus is how something is lost for philosophy, both as an activity and a discipline, when it has to meet a certain pace of reading and production.

  • Why We Need Public Philosophy

    The world is a cruel place that has no shortage of suffering. It is no wonder that scholars of all stripes have been pulled by the gravity of the moment to redirect their intellectual talents and capacities for research toward more immediately pressing and urgent questions. It is why public philosophy is more important than ever.

  • [AUDIO] Political Utopias: Just Wishful Thinking?

    Are the political utopias we imagine simply a product of wishful thinking? Can we be too caught up in the promises of theory to see beyond our rose-colored glasses? Or are these utopias real objects to aim for, despite how far away they may seem?

  • Art, Origins, and the Fearless Girl

    At first sight, Fearless Girl, standing across from Wall Street’s iconic Charging Bull, is a powerful symbol of opposition to patriarchal values, which are at their worst in the male-dominated world of high finance. But if you look to her origins, you might experience an astonishing flip of perspective.

  • Why Vote?

    Alain Badiou, one of France’s premiere philosophers and public intellectuals, recently wrote a column in Le…

  • Tricks for Political Persuasion

    In these polarized times, it’s hard to convince anyone of anything that they didn’t already believe in. This consistent inability to reach any real mutual understanding can lead some to “agree to disagree,” but when it comes to serious moral questions where lives are at stake, we need better tools of persuasion.