Do self-help books rely on a sort of magical thinking about the control we have over our lives? Do they feed into an idiosyncratic, American narcissism that prioritizes furthering our pursuits over helping others? Are they even worth reading in the first place?
In these times, in which truth and lies are nearly indistinguishable, do all intellectuals have a responsibility to devote their efforts toward directly speaking truth to power and mobilizing for social justice? Or are some exempt from this responsibility to pursue their interests wholeheartedly, regardless of whether it directly helps the people or not?
The historical injustices perpetrated against blacks on American soil span four centuries and would be impossible to quantify. Even if we think reparations are owed, it seems impossible to settle who should pay, and who should receive them. But before we give in to the impulse to throw up our hands, let’s see if we can alleviate our sense of hopelessness by distinguishing components of the challenge injustices pose—the metaphysical, epistemic, and pragmatic dimensions to the question of how to address them.
In this podcast of Free Speech Bites, Burmese comedian and filmmaker Zarganar shares his experiences of being silenced for controversial speech and explains why he sees freedom of expression as a significant issue to this day.
Despite being over forty years old, Roger Errera’s interview of philosopher Hannah Arendt in the…
We are exposed to arguments in a variety of settings: in politics, the workplace, and…
Is postmodernism to blame for the current state of American politics, as philosopher Daniel Dennett claims? Or has disrespect for the distinction between truth and lies been around since before postmodernism? Should we instead be thanking postmodernism for giving us frameworks and vocabularies to make sense of current politics?
February is Black History Month. But how should we honor the occasion—especially if you’re white? In addition to recognizing black artists and intellectuals, is there a more sincere way to honestly reflect on your role in America’s dark past? Philosopher George Yancy thinks we can do more.
American prisons are, for the most part, overcrowded warehouses, devoted to the punishment and daily humiliation of their inmates. As such, one would expect that they are probably not very conducive to either the teaching or the studying of philosophy–or any other academic subject matter. But does it have to be that way? Our guest this week is Jennifer Lackey, who teaches philosophy at Northwestern University and at Statesville Correctional Center in Illinois.
What’s a producer to say about love? I’ll leave the heavy philosophical lifting to John…
Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins, a philosopher at the University of British Columbia, enjoys an open relationship…
When hearing about human-inflicted tragedies, you have probably wondered at some point or another: How…
Our show this week, “Philosophy Behind Bars” features guest Jennifer Lackey, a professor of philosophy…
After the civil war, instead of reparations and restorative justice, black people were subjected to new forms of oppression: sharecropping, Jim Crow segregation, separate but equal schooling, housing discrimination — not to mention lynchings and worse. If blacks weren’t paid reparations back then, why would we expect it to happen now?
We were saddened to hear of the passing of Bharati Mukherjee last month. Bharati was an…
In a recent article from the New Statesman, prompted by the death of philosopher Derek Parfit,…