Public Philosophy

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TikTok: The Surveillance State and Your Role

Lately, you cannot walk down a busy street, go to work, eat at a restaurant, workout at the gym, or go grocery shopping without...

An Alternative to Argumentation: Persuasion via Questions

In my last post, I introduced Julia Galef’s way of thinking about motivated reasoning, what she calls soldier mindset: people take ideas personally, and...

The Supreme Court’s Symbolic Code of Conduct

Two things seem true about modern professional life. One, most professional activities nowadays (legal ones, anyway) are backed by a code of conduct—roughly, a set...

Why Arguments (Almost) Never Work: Motivated Reasoning And Persuasion

Were I writing this essay a year or two ago, I’d have started it this way: When disagreements arise, the first impulse for many...
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The Simpsons and AI(mmortality)

Since its 1989 debut, The Simpsons has been a leviathan in the entertainment ecosystem. With over 762 episodes over 35 seasons, the show holds...
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Barbie as Philosophy

If we want to understand the relationship between philosophy and film, what better place to start than the best film of 2023! No, I’m...
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UNDRIP’s Limits on Corrective Reforms to the Basic Structure

§1 Introduction The United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is intended to provide “a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival,...

Coded Displacement

During her graduate studies, black computer scientist Joy Buolamwini developed Aspire Mirror, an AI system that recognizes and reworks the user’s facial image with...
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Lies, Fiction, and the Post Office

Early January in the UK witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of public outrage. In four parts, shown on successive nights, a TV drama documented prosecutions...

Diversity Statements are Discriminatory and a Waste of Time

You’re looking for a job. You hear there’s an opening at the local Caregivers Incorporated, a company that serves disabled people. This would be...