Political riots: are they a legitimate method for the people to express their discontent, or too chaotic and uncontrollable to be deemed effective? When a demonstration turns violent, can that violence ever be justified?
It’s Tax Day in America, so we have some questions for you: Do you think taxes are fair? How well do you know your own thoughts about taxes? How easily shaped by priming are your beliefs about taxes? You might be surprised to discover what experimental data shows about this!
In 1992, the political scientist Francis Fukuyama became famous for his provocative and much-criticized claim that history had ended. In a recent article in Aeon, Paul Sagar argues that Fukuyama more accurately predicted that societies may fall back into history, and way from liberal democracy.
You might not have thought it was possible, but there is now a computer game version of Walden by Henry David Thoreau designed to help foster a philosophical experience and learn to “live deliberately.” It was released just in time for the 200th anniversary of Thoreau’s birth.
Most of us probably have some ideas about what constitutes our personal brand of ethics: questions about what is morally right and wrong pervade philosophy and everyday life. But what about metaethics? What is the difference between a moral realist and anti-realist? Between a moral absolutist and cultural relativist? Which one are you?
Intersectional feminism is not a progressive advance over the non-intersectional sort. It is, rather, a rearguard attempt to recover from what I think of as original sin—that is, from a profound and consequential error. The original sin was the sin of treating some men as the unmarked case of man, some women as the unmarked case of woman.
What are the mechanisms by which power operates? How much can the workings of power shed light on the concepts and labels applicable to everyday life? Foucault’s concept of power is more important than ever.
Dogs love art! At least, when that art is designed with them in mind. Check out the first ever canine-centric art show in London. “Tails were wagging like crazy,” according to the artist who designed the show.
What happens when we view bodybuilding through a Marxist lens? Is bodybuilding a unique form of labor, that creates a particular sense of fulfillment? When you pump iron, do the fruits of your labor belong to you and you alone, in the form of bulging biceps and six-pack abs?
Putting a person in a prison deprives him of freedom and autonomy. Putting an animal in a cage does the same thing. That’s a similarity. On the other hand, we typically put people in prison to punish them. We aren’t punishing animals when we put them in zoos or keep them as pets.
Is killing animals for food ever morally justifiable? If the entire planet could survive eating only a vegetarian diet, how could we be justified in killing millions of animals a year? Wireless Philosophy tackles these questions in this video.
Jeff McMahan and Peter Singer wrote an article in The New York Times that has gotten lots people I know and respect pretty upset. Some have reacted to the article with very reasoned and persuasive counter-arguments. Some have thrown in a good measure of anger and disgust at them in addition.
Are poor white Americans voting in their own best interests? Is it better to be poor in Bangladesh or in the Mississippi Delta? The Atlantic interviews Nobel-prize winning economist Angus Deaton.
Get Out by Jordan Peele has been a huge hit with movie goers. Critics emphasize its horror and race aspects, but there’s another reason to see Get Out. It brings Hegel’s master-slave relationship into focus
Are space and time two separate entities? Or are they just different dimensions of one thing—the space-time continuum? And what difference does it make if they are?
Scientists tell us that space and time are really aspects of a single thing, the space-time continuum, that time has no intrinsic direction, and that there is really no such things as objective, observer independent simultaneity, and maybe time travel is possible after all.