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The Dark Side of Digital Influence

The Dark Side of Digital Influence

Posted on 18 March 2024 by

In the previous post, I outlined three reasons for paying closer attention to social influence in the digital landscape: the proliferation of social influence, the informational empowerment of social influence, […]

Unpacking Manipulation for the Digital Age

Unpacking Manipulation for the Digital Age

Posted on 18 March 2024 by

Public debate is shaped partly by human social influence, and we routinely distinguish different types of social influence, such as persuasion, coercion, and manipulation. While persuasion and coercion are reasonably […]

Slurring Images

Slurring Images

Posted on 4 March 2024 by

// content warning: racist language and racist imagery // In 2012, the Swedish artist Makode Linde displayed an extremely controversial work of art at the Modern Museum in Stockholm. In […]

Fundamentalism as a contested concept

Fundamentalism as a contested concept

Posted on 19 February 2024 by

Fundamentalism is a contested concept. In ordinary language and public discourse, it is applied to actions, beliefs, or groups that we condemn, disagree with, or wish to delegitimize. Highly mediatized […]

Zetetic standpoint epistemology

Zetetic standpoint epistemology

Posted on 5 February 2024 by ,

A central claim of standpoint theory is that the oppressed have an epistemic advantage over the dominant with respect to the workings of oppression. This ‘epistemic advantage thesis’ ranges over […]

Can Machines Manipulate Us?

Can Machines Manipulate Us?

Posted on 22 January 2024 by , ,

YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard—all of them are manipulating you. More specifically, their algorithms are manipulating you. Or so we now […]

The Epistemology of Rumours

The Epistemology of Rumours

Posted on 8 January 2024 by

Rumours disrupt official lines of communication and can derail policy. During the 2013 – 2016 West African Ebola outbreak, rumours were that medics were stealing bodies to be sold for […]

How to take an extremist seriously

How to take an extremist seriously

Posted on 25 December 2023 by

With the rise of polarization and support for right-wing populism, there is a call to take seriously the perspectives of those who seemingly turn away from liberal democratic ideals. But […]

We Should Complain

We Should Complain

Posted on 11 December 2023 by

I write about complaint to reduce its stigma. I teach classic philosophical texts that argue against it, so I realize the stigma is longstanding. Complaining is soft, Aristotle says. It’s […]

Suicidal Ideation or ‘Malingering’? A case of Testimonial Injustice.

Suicidal Ideation or ‘Malingering’? A case of Testimonial Injustice.

Posted on 27 November 2023 by ,

Introduction According to the Office for National Statistics, 5,275 suicides were registered in England and Wales in 2022. Nevertheless, reports of the intent to kill oneself are not always met […]

Extremism and the Good Life – Part 2

Extremism and the Good Life – Part 2

Posted on 13 November 2023 by

In the previous post I have argued that we need to adopt  a more complex picture of extremists. They are intellectual and practical agents responsive to both intellectual and practical […]

Extremism and the Good Life – Part 1

Extremism and the Good Life – Part 1

Posted on 30 October 2023 by

“Want to live the good life? Join an extremist group!” This odd piece of advice flies in the face of thousands of years of ethical theorizing, not to mention common […]

How to Become an Incel

How to Become an Incel

Posted on 16 October 2023 by

Introduction Discussions around incels – involuntary celibates – have become prevalent across popular social media platforms such as X/Twitter. However, it is not always clear who exactly is behind the […]

Semmelweis, Socratic Ignorance and Listening in an Unjust World

Semmelweis, Socratic Ignorance and Listening in an Unjust World

Posted on 2 October 2023 by

Ignaz Semmelweis, a physician working in a charity hospital in Vienna in the mid 19th century, faced a tragic puzzle: he saw that the rates of puerperal (childbed) fever and […]

Exploratory Epistemic Justice and Question-Making Practices

Exploratory Epistemic Justice and Question-Making Practices

Posted on 18 September 2023 by

In questioning practices, people not only ask questions but also contemplate how their questions can be precisely expressed and attempt to discover a right question. For instance, we may confront […]

Corporations: the power of possibility and the possibilities of power

Corporations: the power of possibility and the possibilities of power

Posted on 4 September 2023 by

There is a way of thinking about business corporations which sees them as inherently enemies of social progress.  On this view, inspired by Marxist analyses of class conflict and antagonistic […]

“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 […]