Blog
The ‘But why do trans…?’ questions often just ask about being human
Of course humans will disagree with and disappoint each other. So where are we going together? What’s the ultimate goal of all our values, judgments, opinions, discernments? What’s the end game we’re playing? Where are we going with all this change?
Then they came for the taxpayers
Not the tax evaders. The taxpayers. There is nothing we can do to earn our place in this system. The system is unfair, and it will come for everyone in due course.
Why was Palestinian student leader Mahmoud Khalil detained?
The meaning of ‘shalom’ I know is ‘peace.’ A political arrest isn’t peaceful. President Trump aims to take away freedoms to speak against injustice. He’s testing his power to defund Columbia University and arrest its students.
10 ways trans people are told we shouldn’t exist
Here’s why transphobia sounds like an eradication campaign. If someone were denying your gender, would you understand them as literally telling you to stop having your gender? Comply, and everything will be OK?
Do we shine a light into the dark ages…
…or does it illuminate what we know of ourselves? Gabriele and Perry’s ‘Bright Ages’. We might see a time that isn’t “isolated, savage, primitive,” but “messy and human.” Studying medieval Europe can teach us more about ourselves.
What do we talk about when we talk about vaccines?
The 2014 book ‘On Immunity’ by Eula Biss. ‘On Immunity’ reflects on the human immune system and on vaccination. There are broad philosophical implications: balance, safety, interdependence.
3 things I learned from ‘The Disordered Cosmos’
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s 2021 book on physics and identity. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares meta-insights about how science and society can prevent us from asking questions and obtaining insights. Who’s included?
Does Moll Flanders know whether her mother is cheerful?
The Gettier problem in Daniel Defoe’s novel. Moll’s justified true belief (“My mother was a mighty cheerful, good-humoured old woman”) wasn’t knowledge. The novelist put an irony there.
Toward a better epistemology: Why do we care about what we know?
A reaction to the ‘Gettier problem’. Maybe there isn’t just one definition of knowledge. Maybe every type of knowledge is related in a “family resemblance.” Some are propositions. Some aren’t.