Philosophy in the News
- Newton’s Influence on Kant
New research by philosopher Michael Friedman reveals how a lesser-known Kantian text serves as an important bridge between Kant's concepts of metaphysics and natural science, as well as between defining periods in Kant's development.
- Where Law and Morality Meet
An interview with legal philosopher Matthew Kramer.
- When the Rainbow is Not Enuf
Philosopher John Corvino on gay rights and the race analogy.
- Is Having Kids Really So Terrible?
A new study suggests becoming a parent can have a dramatically negative effect on people. Philosopher Alva Noe says we should be surprised at this nor is it so bad a thing.
- A Burning in the Soul
Young protesters in Ferguson and beyond are rekindling the spirit of W.E.B. DuBois and the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and '70s. An interview with philosopher Cornell West.
- Social Deprivation
We are a highly social species, but what follows from that? Do we have a right to human contact? Philosopher Kimberley Brownlee takes on the difficult question of what sort of contact we owe each other. (audio)
- Knowledge Ventured, Knowledge Gained
An interview with philosopher Sara Uckelman who specializes in dynamic epistemology.
- What Vegans Won’t Do
The strict abolitionist approach to animal cruelty has moral logic, but little practical use.
- Be There Philosophy in This Irrational Man?
Woody Allen's new film engages in philosophical conversation, in arguments and justifications for actions, though not much reasoning is seen in individual characters. Philosopher Alva Noë gives use the lowdown on Woody Allen's philosophically-tinged film Irrational Man.
- Embodied Mind Learns its First Word
How do we learn our first words? What is it that makes the linguistic intentions of others manifest to us, when our eyes follow a pointing finger to an object and associate that object with a word? Philosopher Char Engelland discusses themes from his recent book, Ostension, which explores the way in which ostension crosses the Cartesian boundary between body and mind.
- Can We Still Have “Just Wars”?
Before we say categorically that there is a moral imperative to destroy groups like ISIS, we must consider the moral cost. An interview with political philosopher Cecile Fabre (Oxford).
- Are You a Secret Agent?
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a new entry on the concept of agency. In very general terms, an agent is a being with the capacity to act, and ‘agency' denotes the exercise or manifestation of this capacity…. Debates about the nature of agency have flourished over the past few decades in philosophy and in other areas of research (including psychology, cognitive neuroscience, social science, and anthropology). In philosophy, the nature of agency is an important issue in the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of psychology, the debates on free will and moral responsibility, in ethics, meta-ethics, and in the debates on the nature of reasons and practical rationality.
- When It’s Nobody’s Business
A moral expectation of privacy can change the meaning of an act, even and especially if that act is exchanging sex for money. Philosopher Laurie Shrage discusses the issues.
- To Merge With the Divine
Prohibited from the academy in the medieval period, some women turned to mystical traditions in their search for knowledge of and union with God. Philosopher Christina Van Dyke holds that this specifically mystical element — to not only understand the divine, but to merge with it — in turn lent such women a singular authority for their day.
- A New Way to Look at Emotions
In her research, scientist Lisa Feldman Barrett concludes that emotions are not distinct entities inside us. Philosopher Alva Noë weighs in.
- Against the Charge of Speciesism
Peter Singer famously argued that many of us are guilty of speciesism in our dealings with animals - we give unreasonable priority to humans over other the interests of other animals. Speciesism is like racism and other prejudices in many respects. Philosopher Shelly Kagan outlines and criticises Singer's arguments for this position, and in the process makes some interesting points about prejudice in general.
- Life After Faith
An interview with philosopher Philip Kitcher.
- Animals in Medieval Philosophy
Medieval ideas about what animals do and do not have in common with humans, and how we should treat them.
- The Myth of the Intuitive
According to some experimental philosophers, analytic philosophers rely too heavily on an unsound method which involves arguing for philosophical conclusions from premises whose force rests solely in what philosophers find "intuitive" or "obvious."...In The Myth of the Intuitive: Experimental Philosophy and Philosophical Method, philosopher Max Deutsch defends analytic philosophy against the x-phi critique by showing that, in fact, analytic philosophers do not, in fact, treat intuitions as evidence.
- Philosophy Changing How Kids Think
In some ambitious K-12 schools across the country, philosophy courses have made tangible improvements to the way students learn. In these classrooms, teachers tackle big concepts like ethics and epistemology. They ask, How can we know what we know? – a classic epistemological quandary — but they use Dr. Seuss to get there.