Philosophy in the News
- Are There Any Real Limits for Marriage?
Once marriage is no longer understood to be restricted to heterosexual couples, must we then question whether it should be restricted to couples? Why not recognize plural marital arrangements? Why should there be a civil institution of marriage at all? Philosopher Stephen Macedo talks about themes from his recent book, Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage. Macedoa argues against both Natural Law theorists who would restrict marriage to heterosexual couples as well as some feminist philosphers who hols that marriage should encompass plural networks of care. argues that, as a matter of justice, marriage rights must be extended to same-sex couples. According to Macedo, the instutition of marriage only has grounding for monogamous couples. (audio)
- Aesthetics of the Everyday
In the history of Western aesthetics, the subject matters that received attention ranged from natural objects and phenomena, built structures, utilitarian objects, and human actions, to what is today regarded as the fine arts. However, beginning with the nineteenth century, the discourse has become increasingly focused on the fine arts. This narrowing attention occurred despite the prominence of the aesthetic attitude theory in modern aesthetics, according to which there is virtually no limit to what can become a source of aesthetic experience... Challenges to this rather limited scope of aesthetics began during the latter half of the twentieth century with a renewed interest in nature and environment, followed by the exploration of popular arts. Everyday aesthetics continues this trajectory of widening scope by including objects, events, and activities that constitute people's daily life.
- Utilitarian Cookbook
Jeremy Bentham's Prison Cookbook -- filled with recipes for cheap, nourishing food -- is now available. Famously, Bentham also developed a design for prisons -- his panopticon -- so that all inmates might be observed by a single watchman. (Also: Chefs at the St John Smithfield restaurant in London, which specialises in "nose to tail eating," offered to cook the recipe for Devonshipe Pie.) Um, this stuff is not vegetarian.
- Hume and Buddhism: More Than You Knew
On philosopher Alison Gopnik's recent suggestion that David Hume's extraordinary philosophy was influenced by early knowledge of Buddhist thought. We are always more connected than we know.
- Price Jacking Old Meds
Philosophers discuss the recent furor about drug patents and predatory price hikes.
- Pascal’s Wager 2.0
Pascal's famous wager requires a choice between believing and not believing in God. But there's more than one way not to believe. New wager!!
- Is Everything Socially Constructed?
Could every aspect of reality exist only in relation to viewpoints on it? Is everything about us socially constructed rather than given? Philosopher Jesse Prinz discusses. (audio)
- What is it Like to be an Experiemental Philosopher?
Or (burning question) what is it like to be Josh Knobe in particular?
- What to Study in College and Why
Aristotle was onto something: A liberal arts education in college enhances one's life, and earnings potential.
- License to Devour
Do we have a contract with the animals we eat?
- Propaganda & Public Opinion
Philosopher Jason Stanley talks about the subtle and insidious ways that propaganda presents itself as pragmatism within liberal democracies. (audio)
- Should Animals Be Awarded Copyright? (Real Question)
This week, a lawsuit was filed for copyright ownership for a wild macaque named Naruto, who took the now-famous "monkey selfie." Anthropologist Barbara J. King explores what the outcome could mean. (Update: Philosophers take note because of the obvious philosophical interest of the case Follow some subsequent discussion.)
- Peter Singer and the Egg McMuffin
Philosopher Peter Singer on McDonald's recent decision to use only cage-free eggs. At two billion eggs, it is not a small deal.
- Trigger Warnings
Philosopher Kate Manne on the debate about trigger warnings on college syllabi.
- What Philosophers Really Know
"Clarity and complexity are not antagonists, but rather allies. The pursuit of clarity churns up unexpected complexity, but it can be tamed by the pursuit of further clarity." Another way in which philosophy makes progress, according to Rebecca Goldstein. (UPDATE: Computers on UF's campus network can also access Goldstein's original essay free of charge.)
- Solving the ‘Impossible Trinity’ of the Internet Age
How do you make an information resource that is at once authoritative, comprehensive and up-to-date? In this, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy may be the most interesting website on the internet. Not (just!) because of the content—which includes fascinating entries on everything from ambiguity to zombies—but because of the site itself. Its creators have solved one of the internet's fundamental problems: How to provide authoritative, rigorously accurate knowledge, at no cost to readers. It's something the encyclopedia, or SEP, has managed to do for two decades.
- Time, Language and Ontology
An interview with philosopher Joshua Mozersky.
- John Malkovich Living in Plato’s Cave
On John Malkovich's forthcoming album, Like a Puppet Show, his collaborators use Malkovich's reading of Plato's allegory of the cave as remix material over original music/soundscapes. The remix artists here are a curious mix themselves and include Yoko Ono, OMD, Dweezil Zappa, Ric Ocasek and others. (A sample track is included with this article.)
- Miscommunication in 90 Seconds or Less
According to a recent study, when we converse, every 90 seconds one of us will interject to recover from some miscommunication that has occurred. Huh? Who? She did what? What does this mean for our philosophical understanding of language?
- Outside Color
What is color? On the one hand it seems obvious that it is a property of objects – roses are red, violets are blue, and so on. On the other hand, even the red of a single petal of a rose differs in different lighting conditions or when seen from different angles, and the basic physical elements that make up the rose don't have colors. So is color instead a property of a mental state, or a relation between a perceiving mind and an object? In her recent book, Outside Color, philosopher of science Mazviita Chirimuuta argues that neither of these basic pictures is correct. In fact, replying on contemporary perceptual science, she argues that, adaptively speaking, color vision is not even for perceiving colors. (audio)