When we think about COVID-19 as a medical issue first and foremost, what are we missing? This week we explore the ways in which legal, economic, cultural and ethical perspectives on COVID-19 could be just as important as the medical – and could be even more helpful in getting us to the point where we’re less vulnerable to pandemics in general. [audio] @ Philosopher’s Zone
Extending Frankfurt’s popular analysis of bullsh*t to get a useful account also of pseudoscience. @ Theoria
Once effective COVID-19 vaccines are developed, they will be scarce. This presents the question of how to distribute them fairly. @ Science Magazine
What is the most just way for a nation to determine who may enter and whom to grant citizenship? [audio] @ Philosophy Talk
How our ambitions in space require deep altruism. Do we have what it takes? [See also original essay at
How should we judge the moral actions of figures from the past? The answer depends in part on the nature of morality itself. @ Quillette
What does the ethic of journalistic impartiality require in cases like climate change and its deniers? @ The Conversation
Philosopher Agnes Callard argues “not only that the benefits of reading Aristotle counteract the costs, but that there are no costs. In fact we have no reason at all to cancel Aristotle. Aristotle is simply not our enemy.” @ New York Times
Philosopher Frank Ramsey not only died young but lived too early, or so it can seem. By turns a philosopher, an economist, and a mathematician — was arguably one of the great minds of the last century. Have we caught up with him yet? A discussion of themes from philosopher Cheryl Misak’s recent book /Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers/. @ The New Yorker
In the current day, a need for social protest and the need for social distancing can quickly come into complex ethical tension. Philosopher and bioethicist Travis Rieder discusses. [Cf. Rieder’s essay in
Philosopher Lisa Shapiro has been awarded a $2 million grant for a 7-year project aimed at recovering and promoting in the history of philosophy philosophical works by individuals from marginalized groups in the period 1400 through 1940. @ Daily Nous
To celebrate what would have been philosopher Iris Murdoch’s 100th birthday, people were invited to send a postcard (posthumously) addressed to Murdoch asking a philosophical question. The questions were then distributed to 100 philosophers to answer. [audio] @ Philosopher’s Zone
Ethicists and AI researchers make the case against the development of algorithms that aim to predict the likelihood that an individual will commit a criminal act based on variables like crime statistics and facial scans. @ Unite.AI
Epic Games (Fortnite, Unreal Engine) is partnering with the Department of Philosophy at Moscow State University. Of the planned 3-year collaboration, Epic says: “philosophy is much closer to game development than most may think, and games themselves can be a perfect instrument to explore philosophical thoughts.” @ Daily Nous
The majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of civil rights protections for LGBT employees uses reasoning that is reflective of an amicus brief submitted to the court which was co-authored by Yale philosopher Robin Dembroff and sogned by some 80 philosophers from across the country. [See also summary coverage in
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Montesquieu was the 18th century French philosopher who introduced the term “despotism” into our political vocabulary. [audio] @ Philosopher’s Zone
Numerous philosophers along with many epidemiologists are among the signers of a letter to the NIH calling on the govt to make immediate preparations for human “challenge” trials of COVID-19 vaccines, i.e. trials where volunteers are deliberately exposed to the virus in order to test possible vaccines in controlled environments. There are obvious ethical issues involved in such trials, so the advocacy of ethicists is particularly important and relevant to any consideration of such actions. @ Daily Nous
For Plato, assigned to each of the (purported) five types of matter a particular geometric form. Earth was assigned the shape of a cube. And, well, it turns out he was really right about that (sort of). @ Phys.org
A discussion with philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel on topics from his recent book, /A Theory of Jerks/. [audio] @ Philosophy Talk
On the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, the COVID‐19 pandemic has provided the nursing community the opportunity to demonstrate, in Nightingale’s own words, “what nursing is and what it is not.” @ Nursing Philosophy
An interview with philosopher Susan Schneider on how artificial intelligence and other technologies might alter our bodies and minds, for good or ill. @ Scientific American
Racism is a kind of social disease — call it Racial Diminishment Syndrome. This disease, like the coronavirus, is hard to detect, highly contagious and often deadly. @ New York Times
Boredom hasn’t received a lot of philosophical attention — perhaps because it’s boring. There’s something about it that resists analysis, which isn’t surprising, given that boredom suggests a radical absence of anything to talk about. But even the most tedious things can prove on inspection to be complex, multi-layered and… well, interesting. Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen explores the intricacies, the joys, and the creative potential of boredom. [audio] @ Philosopher’s Zone
From backyard to TikTok, a philosopher explains why dance can help pandemic-proof your kids. @ The Conversation
Using limited datasets to build facial recognition technologies, with images that don’t represent society as a whole, has prompted an ethical debate about their evolution. @ Raconteur
Technologies to rapidly alert people when they have been in contact with someone carrying the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are part of a strategy to bring the pandemic under control. Currently, at least 47 contact-tracing apps are available globally. … How are we to assess whether — and to what extent — a contact-tracing app is ethically justifiable? @ Nature
A lot of people are facing ethical decisions about their daily life as a result of the coronavirus. Ethicist Lee McIntyre answers the question: “Should I visit my mother?” @ The Conversation
How a global pandemic is changing our ideas about and acceptance of the intervention of AI systems. @ MIT Sloan
Philosopher Philip Goff discusses consciousness, panpsychism, and Galileo’s insights into the nature of matter. [audio] @ Philosophy Bites
Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, discusses the ethical considerations of using digital technologies for public health surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. @ Johns Hopkins University
With the 500th episode of the popular radio show Philosophy Talk approaching, program co-founder John Perry and current host Joshua Landy reflect on how philosophy, and the humanities broadly, can help during these turbulent times. [video] @ Stanford University
Political philosopher Elizabeth Anderson explains why we should spend more time discussing political ideas, even with those with whom we strongly disagree. [audio] @ Philosophy Bites
Spinoza was the single most significant philosophical influence on novelist George Eliot’s thinking, and she knew the /Ethics/ more intimately than anyone else in 19th-century England. @ Prospect Magazine
With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a great deal of anxiety, we might come to think people are irrational, selfish or downright crazy. We see people showing up to public venues en masse or clearing supermarket shelves of toilet paper. Experts are often ignored. … The answer for this kind of panicked flurry in reasoning may lie in a field of critical thinking called vice epistemology. @ The Conversation
Cornel West on ‘The FIght for the Soul of America’. Address delivered at the University of Montana. Missoula, Montant, August 2019. [audio] @ Montana Public Radio
Today, instead of a life-defining relationship, many of us now see partnership as just one part of a bigger puzzle. @ New York Times
Happiness is a precious commodity whose demand far outstrips supply – so it’s no surprise that these days there’s a “happiness industry” devoted to selling it. But what is happiness, and why are we incapable of getting a fix on it? Is the happiness industry really in the business of making us unhappy? And can philosophy help? [audio] @ Philosopher’s Zone
An interview with philosopher Catherine Wilson. @ Scientific Philosophy