Skip to main content

Latest posts

Reflection on values makes conversations more fruitful

Open for Debate

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 […]

Open for Debate

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 […]

Open for Debate

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 […]

Open for Debate

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 […]

Epistemic Virtues for Lawyers

Epistemic Virtues for Lawyers

Posted on 14 November 2022 by

Criticism of lawyers is ubiquitous. Thomas More, the author of Utopia, believed there is no need for lawyers in an ideal world, as its inhabitants will plead their own cause. […]

Epistemic Exploitation and Ontic Burnout

Epistemic Exploitation and Ontic Burnout

Posted on 31 October 2022 by

Picture a scene where, Amina, a Black woman, is out with a white male acquaintance, Ben. During the meal, a white woman approaches her, reaches out to touch her hair, […]

The Social Roots of Irrationality

The Social Roots of Irrationality

Posted on 17 October 2022 by

Many animals navigate their environments with the use of internal models. It is tempting to think of human beliefs as just a highly complex example of this strategy. On this […]

Two Types of Civility

Two Types of Civility

Posted on 3 October 2022 by

What is civility? It sounds fancy, but if we start with incivility we may get a better idea: incivility is obnoxiousness, rudeness, and generally a lot of what we would […]

The ambivalence of cynicism

The ambivalence of cynicism

Posted on 19 September 2022 by

Cynicism seems to have an ambivalent status. On the one hand, ‘being cynical’ might mean dogmatic scepticism about people’s moral character. A cynic can be arrogant – too smart, too […]

Thoughts for Sale

Thoughts for Sale

Posted on 5 September 2022 by

My father spent his career working in production for large bakeries, supervising and troubleshooting the mass production of bread and buns. He would get up at 5:00 in the morning, […]