Cognitive psychologists have often claimed that conspiracy theorists possess a “monological” belief system, in which belief in one conspiracy leads to belief in others. Eventually, they explain every significant event, however unrelated, through the same conspiratorial “logic”. But is this an oversimplification?
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on the concept of critical thinking: its definition, its issues and the history of it as an educational goal.
You can overdo most things, but it seems strange to say that you can overdo democracy. Philosopher Robert B. Talisse argues you can. (audio)
In a recent government proposal, the amount of time dedicated to philosophy lessons in high school in France would be cut in half. French teachers are protesting the change and may go on strike over the matter.
Read more "French Teachers Resist Threat to Philosophy Education"
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on feminist philosophy which aims to provide an overview of all the entries in the feminist philosophy section of the Encyclopedia.
Studies of courtship show that a sense of humour is the most valued quality in a potential mate. Philosophy of humour sheds light on why it’s so important.
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s new book attempts a diagnosis of our current political crisis — identifying fear as the defining evil of the current moment.
Howard Gardner, professor of cognition and education, offers two key reasons for requiring students to start and end their education with philosophical questions and thinking.
Philosopher Hugh LaFollette (USF) discusses themes from his recent book on gun control. (audio)
Some recent court rulings hold that legal counsel has an affirmative duty to, e.g. Google stuff, and sometimes to research jurors online. But use of social media by a tech-rube attorney can be rife with ethical issues.
Read more "Ethical Duties and Dangers for Lawyers on Social Media"
In order to know how to give a good gift, you need to understand what makes a good gift good. Philosopher Jennifer Rothschild (UF) breaks it down for you. (video)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on infinite regress arguments. Many, many infinite regress arguments have been given throughout the history of philosophy — typically as a form of objection. This entry aims to to shed light on the kinds of regress argument that may be encountered in philosophy, and the different considerations that arise in different cases.
For many of us, ‘post-truth’ represents everything that’s wrong with the world today: fake news, social media hysteria, and a political culture where appeals to prejudice and emotion trump rational policy discussion. But for Steve Fuller, post-truth is neither new nor particularly bad. It’s just a by-product of the institutionalisation of knowledge—including scientific knowledge.
Philosopher R.A. Briggs studies epistemic decision theory. Here he discusses ‘conditionalization’ which (roughly) is a way of calculating how your beliefs should change in light of new evidence. But what is the normative status of this rule? Should you always follow it? Is that the rational thing to do? Would you always be better off if you did? (audio)
Robert Wright argues that some aspects of Buddhism, particularly those parts that deal with the self and the mind, are both compatible with contemporary evolutionary theory and profound about our nature. (audio)
Philosopher Nikk Effingham explains how a little philosophy (understanding epistemic contextualism) can help bring the right perspective to those flat earther arguments.
Marija Jankovic (UF alum) & Kirk Ludwig, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intentionality. Routledge, 2018.
The Nonhuman Rights Project turns to philosophy to persuade courts to honor chimpanzees’ rights.
If recent political events are anything to go by epistemic insoucience is one of the defining vices of our age.
Children are natural philosophers—so why don’t we routinely teach them how to do philosophy? Philosophical education in schools is a growing phenomenon, but there’s still a lot of debate as to why and how it should be carried out. Some of that debate was aired at a recent public panel hosted by the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia. (audio)
In 17th century northern Europe, only men wore high heels, and so the first women to try them out were actually going for a masculine look. Along came Enlightment philosophy and the rest is history…
Philosopher Philip Pettit discusses the concept and challenges of rich goods, like love and friendship, which are in their nature robustly demanding. (audio)
Read more "Love, Friendship and Other Robustly Demanding Things"
In the coming age of high-tech warfare, the old rules of conflict will not apply. The ethical implications and dangers are all too clear. The imperative for new and better ethical training of soldiers has never been higher.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on artificial intelligence. Both philosophical AI and philosophy of AI are discussed.
‘Evil’ is one of those words that seem to convey moral clarity—we all feel we know evil when we see it. But there was once a time when ‘evil’ simply referred to mundane mischance or wrongdoing; its transformation into something almost metaphysical is a relatively recent turn. Is it all about context? We may gain or lose if we dial back its extreme connotations. And what did Hannah Arendt mean when she spoke of its banality? (audio)
Philosophy has always played an essential role in the development of science, physics in particular, and is likely to continue to do so
Philosopher Chris Surprenant has been awarded a $1.8 million dollare grant to study “entrepreneurship patterns in urban communities … with specific focus on black communities.”
Philosopher Bryan Van Norden argues that ignorant speech has no right to and does not deserve all the airtime it gets, and that, once you sort John Stuart Mill, we will see that embracing free speech does not demand otherwise.
Philosopher Evan Selinger argues The benefits do not outweigh its privacy risks and dangers.
Read more "The Ethical Incursion of Facial Recognition Technology"
Philosophical writing. It’s not rocket science. It’s more complicated than that!
Not only is Sartre the original self-help writer, but also the best. His ideas aren’t simply inspirational catchphrases, but fit into a coherent and compelling view of humanity.
Midlife malaise—some folks call it a crisis. What is it’s proper understanding? According to philosopher Kieran Setiya it is typified by a cluster of low-level calamities that need careful prising to reveal their true sources. (audio)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on sex and sexuality and the attendant conceptual and normative issues involved.
Philosophy-major-turned-vintner, Randall Grahm, says, “Wine is a mystery that holds the promise of an explanation.”
The question of exactly what constitutes identity is an old and much-contested one. Is personhood located in a community? A culture? A race? Or is it something singular and immanent, located somewhere in the deepest recesses of the individual? (audio)
“While most are in agreement about Marx’s diagnosis of capitalism, opinion on how to treat its ‘disorder’ is thoroughly divided.”
May 1968 was a watershed moment in political philosophy, and its ripple effect continues. We follow the long trajectory of May ’68—from the universities and streets of Paris fifty years ago, via the work of pioneering feminist Luce Irigaray, all the way to the ‘New Municipalism’ that’s transforming the political and social landscapes of cities around the world today. (audio)