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Open for Debate

“I hate cyclists!”

“I hate cyclists!”

Posted on 21 August 2023 by

True story: a friend who works for the NHS had to attend mandatory RESPECT training. The workshop convenor started the day with ice breakers, everyone was invited to say what […]

Drill Music and Epistemic Injustice

Drill Music and Epistemic Injustice

Posted on 7 August 2023 by

What are the legitimate ways of interpreting a musician’s work and words? This might seem like an abstract philosophical question, but it isn’t. This question matters because sometimes music is […]

What type of deference to science do we owe each other?

What type of deference to science do we owe each other?

Posted on 24 July 2023 by

How should the public respond to science communication, and how can science be communicated in a way that promotes such a response? A combination of philosophical and empirical research may […]

A Study of the Virtue of Epistemic Collaborativeness

A Study of the Virtue of Epistemic Collaborativeness

Posted on 10 July 2023 by

Agents can achieve far greater things when working in groups than individually. For instance, some of the most important scientific theories and findings have been the product of epistemic collaboration […]

Knowledge qua Expert

Knowledge qua Expert

Posted on 26 June 2023 by

As modern society becomes increasingly specialised, the need for laypeople to identify experts is more pressing than ever. But as everyone is more reliant on the internet, which is difficult […]

Opacity and trust in institutions

Opacity and trust in institutions

Posted on 12 June 2023 by ,

A typical lament of those, like academics, who work in large institutions is that so many of the decisions and operations of institutional life are opaque. This is often expressed […]

Reflection on values makes conversations more fruitful

Reflection on values makes conversations more fruitful

Posted on 29 May 2023 by

People often find it difficult to listen to the views of those with whom they disagree. For example, in the UK, oftentimes members of the same family consciously shun discussions […]

A Case against the Argument from “Collective Amnesia” and “Forgetting”

A Case against the Argument from “Collective Amnesia” and “Forgetting”

Posted on 15 May 2023 by

The term collective amnesia is often used to analyse cases or states in which morally, socially and politically pertinent knowledge, such as knowledge about historical injustices, is (arguably) absent or […]

Mind my extended mind:  Guarding cognition’s non-organic parts

Mind my extended mind: Guarding cognition’s non-organic parts

Posted on 1 May 2023 by

Our smartphones and laptops are undeniably important. But in what sense? Are they simply valuable technological peripherals—not to be easily discarded or left behind—but complimentary devices, nonetheless? Or could they […]

Can People Be Epistemically Blameworthy?

Can People Be Epistemically Blameworthy?

Posted on 17 April 2023 by

We blame people for lots of things, such as stealing from others, forgetting our birthday, and voting for our political opponents. But it also seems that we sometimes blame people […]

A CONSPIRATORIAL PHILOSOPHER

A CONSPIRATORIAL PHILOSOPHER

Posted on 3 April 2023 by

Although much is being written these days about conspiracy theories, the topic of conspiracy theorizing in philosophy is not discussed in the literature.  Political epistemologists cherish easier topics, like the […]

Questions are a form of power (and who gets to ask them matters)

Questions are a form of power (and who gets to ask them matters)

Posted on 20 March 2023 by

Questions are a form of power. Given how ubiquitous they are in our everyday lives, this truth about questions is easy to miss but not, I think, hard to appreciate. […]

Leave it to the Machines? Re-evaluating the Kasparov reply

Leave it to the Machines? Re-evaluating the Kasparov reply

Posted on 6 March 2023 by

In 1997, Garry Kasparov became the first world chess champion to lose a match to a computer, IBM’s Deep Blue. Kasparov initially thought the IBM team cheated after the computer […]

Narrative Devices

Narrative Devices

Posted on 20 February 2023 by

Memory plays an important role in shaping our sense of who and what we are. Our memories about ourselves – where we were born, where we grew up, the books […]

Truth and the Facebookians

Truth and the Facebookians

Posted on 6 February 2023 by

Imagine a community—call them the “Facebookians”—whose politics is deeply polarized. Their political discourse reflects this divisiveness, but to a very unusual extent. For in making political claims, Facebookians are guided […]

Testimonial injustice in healthcare – an alternative diagnosis

Testimonial injustice in healthcare – an alternative diagnosis

Posted on 23 January 2023 by

The common patient complaint of not feeling listened to is familiar to many and well tracked throughout various channels. Whether it be the UK governments 2020 report on endometriosis care […]

Deepfakes and the History of Faked Photography

Deepfakes and the History of Faked Photography

Posted on 9 January 2023 by

Looking back at the panicked discussion of deepfakes in 2018, actually existing deepfake technology has been something of a disappointment. The r/deepfakeSFW subreddit is full of hobbyists face swapping cult […]

Context Needed

Context Needed

Posted on 26 December 2022 by

It may be hard for us to admit, but many of us are two-faced. That is to say, we act differently depending on who we’re with. We might be polite […]

Red Pills and Rallying Lies: Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Collective Action

Red Pills and Rallying Lies: Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Collective Action

Posted on 12 December 2022 by

“Most of the things that we take to be a fact in our lives are told to us through our stories, or the news that we hear. So, my question […]

Philosophizing about Terrorism

Philosophizing about Terrorism

Posted on 28 November 2022 by

One evening almost exactly fifty years ago, a group of men and women in balaclavas abducted Mrs Jean McConville from her home in West Belfast. McConville, whose husband had died […]