Philosophy in the News
- When AI Can’t Do Art
Roll over, Beethoven AI. Philosopher Sean Kelly explains why creativity is, and always will be, a human endeavor. (But you don't have to burn your pixellated auto-Rembrandt poster just yet.)
- How the Ethics Came About
Philosopher Philip Pettit tells an edifying just-so story about how ethics came into being. (audio)
- Socrates in Love
Classicist Armand D'Angour argues that the ideas of a "fiercely intelligent" woman from Socrates' youth, Aspasia of Miletus, are at the root of Western philosophy
- The Philosophy of Punk
Philosopher Nicholas Smith reflects on punk, philosophy and his love of the Buzzcocks. As one-time philosophy student and Buzzcock's songwriter Shelley said: punk, like philosophy, is about questioning things.
- Islamic Philosophy and Epistemology of Religion
Philosophers Jon McGinnis and Billy Dunaway have been awarded a (near) one million dollar grant to study medieval Islamic philosophy and apply it to contemporary questions about the epistemology of religion: "The Christian West and Islamic East: Theology, Science, and Knowledge."
- Ethics of Big (Animal) Data
Researchers are tagging an ever-increasing number of animals and with sometimes sophisticated tracking sensors. A debate has arisen over the consequences for animal welfare, conservation, and technology. The ethics of big data is not just about us.
- The (More) Good Place
NBC teams up with philosopher Todd May (consultant for their show The Good Place) to make a series of videos as philosophical supplement to the show -- under the irreverent title of Mother Forkin' Morals.
- Man Sues Parents for Having Him
Antinatalism is the view, detailed for instance in David Benatar's Better Never to Have Been that having children (at least in our era, if not always) is morally wrong. Now, 27-year-old Raphael Samuel, a professed antinatalist, is suing his parents for having him without his consent.
- Curbing the Sweep of Misinformation
Technology has given rise to an age of misinformation. But philosophy -- and certain valuable lessons from epistemology -- could help eliminate it.
- Philosophy Flips the Script on Prison Culture
Participants in a recent study became calmer, more able to express their point of view without aggression and developed more open minds.
- Latinx Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia ofPhilosophy has a new entry on Latinx philosophy. Latinx philosophy is philosophical work substantively concerned with Latinxs, including the moral, social, political, epistemic, and linguistic significance of Latinxs and their experiences. Although its emergence as a distinctive, self-identified field is relatively recent, Latinx philosophy includes a substantial body of work that draws from a variety of philosophical traditions.
- Dignity and the Transhuman
Human dignity is one of those ideas that seem to have been around for as long as humans themselves, and few people would take issue with it. But like most ideas, human dignity has a philosophical pedigree, and there are in fact those who say we should abandon the notion—or at least modify its invocation. What is human dignity? And how does it play into such areas as bioethics, particularly the notion of radical human enhancement? (audio)
- Contrapuntal Persuasion
Former philosophy doctoral student Natalie Wynn brings a rare skill for rational argument and emotional persuasion to one of the most vicious battlefields of the online culture wars.
- Sir Francis Bacon on Climate Change
Bacon helped usher in the scientific revolution. If we're serious about combatting global warming, we should follow his example.
- Decency in an Indecent Place
How can you be a good person when it feels like you're in the Bad Place? The philosopher consultant for the afterlife comedy “The Good Place” was just one of the speakers for the third-annual "Night of Philosophy and Ideas" -- a twelve-hour philosophical all-nighter at the Brooklyn Public Library.
- Brian Eno and Philosophy for Airports
Philosopher John T. Lysaker examines different ways of listening and how the ambient music created by pop and avant-garde leader Brian Eno provokes audiences "to think about the act of listening itself." Lysaker's recent book Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports is published by Oxford University Press.
- Beyond the Trolley Problem
Welcome to your new ethics test, Silicon Valley: an adaptive quiz that becomes harder the more questions you get right.
- “When Did You Disappear?”
Three philosophers set up a booth on a street corner in New York City – here's what people asked.
- Your Goofing Off May Be Goofing You on
What happens when we play video games? Lots of things: we frown in concentration, we mash buttons, we zone into an imaginary world. But according to Liam Miller, we also engage philosophically with issues of ethics, identity and more. (audio)
- How to Grow Old. or Rather How Not.
Bertrand Russell on how (not) to grow old. “In spite of the title,” his essay begins, “this article will really be on how not to grow old, which, at my time of life, is a much more important subject.”