Monthly Archives: August, 2026

Green Shoots in the Humanities

By nearly every measure that can be reasonably assembled—undergraduate majors, tenure-track hires, departmental budgets, public attention—the humanities in the United States have been contracting...

Slacktivism in Academia: Why Strongly Worded Letters and Micro-Protests Rarely Work

Academics reason through problems, create innovative solutions, and often make the world a better place. However, sometimes, they are not the best at fashioning...

Citizens’ Accountability and Epistemic Constraints on Voting

When we think about the ideal democratic citizen, we think about someone who is not only a valuable member of the political community, but...

What Makes Leadership Effective? Balancing the Enduring Tension between Dignity Needs and Human Nature

Throughout history, leadership has shaped the fate of organizations, states, and entire civilizations. Rome cannot be understood apart from Julius Caesar, Augustus, or Nero;...

2023 Pacific Division Presidential Address: When Cash Is Not Enough: The Case for In-Kind Distribution

Below is the audio recording of Debra Satz’s presidential address, “When Cash Is Not Enough: The Case for In-Kind Distribution,” given at the 2023...

How Changeable Are the Concepts We Teach?

Recently, there have been some high-profile cases of teachers in schools and universities being asked to stop teaching certain concepts. Race and gender are...

APA Member Interview, Edward Delia

Edward DeLia is a philosopher and social scientist who holds graduate degrees from both Hofstra and Fordham Universities. He believes great writing must inspire...

APA Member Interview, Jessica Castellani

Jessica Castellani is a philosophy adjunct professor who will be teaching Ethics at Owen's Community College this fall. She gained her Master of Arts...

Power Corrupts: Why Parenting Can Be Bad for Us

Could it be bad for us to become parents? Of course, we might say; yes, if it turns out we made a mistake in...

Navel Gazing Lawyers and Philosopher-Judges: A Tale of (At Least Two) Personhoods  

The left side of Damien Hirst's statue, Verity, from Ilfracombe harbour arm.

To Talk, to Think, to Ask: Biology in Philosophy

What is the point of philosophy of biology? This is the question that continued to come up as I thought, scribbled, and erased while...

Harmful Ignorance

“We haven’t got closure, we haven’t been able to mourn properly, close that chapter and live our lives in memory of Dad and build...

Death and Taxes: The Philosophy of Procrastination

The Microsoft Word cursor blinks, waiting for the next input to be typed, in vain. However, no letter, no space appears on the digital...