There are many valuable aims of philosophy. There are many excellent ways of teaching philosophy. But, for whatever it’s worth, at the introductory level I prioritize the aim of showing the utility of philosophical tools and concepts for understanding the world. …

When your job is your life, the algorithms control you. Your Job Can Be Your Life Modern employers are private governments. They enjoy broad powers over their employees’ lives. Of course, they dictate employees lives during work hours and in the workplace. But even outside of those hours and those places, employers still hold control over…

Niche construction is a concept developed in ecology and evolutionary biology, which refers to “the modification of selective environments by organisms” (Laland et al 2016: 191). The world is not only something that organisms adapt to, but also something that organisms make. …

Note: I started writing an outline for this post before “How is This Course Intro to Philosophy?” was cross-posted to Daily Nous. I appreciate the comment thread there, which has provided useful material for fleshing out the outline. In “How is This Course Intro to Philosophy?”, I recounted some (positive…

Kristie Dotson’s “How Is This Paper Philosophy?” (2012) argues that the pervasive culture of justification within the profession makes philosophy unattractive for diverse practitioners, especially members of marginalized groups. Questions like “how is this paper philosophy?” signals the existence of certain norms that make some philosophical works legitimate and others…

People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a reality that they cannot articulate. […] It goes without saying, then, that language is also a political instrument, means, and proof of power. — James Baldwin, “If Black…

Whether through intent or incompetence, Donald Trump has broken established US and international norms by speaking to the president of Taiwan on the phone. …