Blog

Pamela Paul isn’t sympathetic to trans adults either
Yes, Republicans threaten the rights of trans adults. No, I don’t believe Pamela Paul really cares. Is there any specific legal right, specific type of access to resources, or specific type of respect she believes we should have? Tell me if you know.

Why this trans person is tired of Pamela Paul’s columns
She could just stop talking about us. She could talk about anything else. I could write a book she’d enjoy, except she wouldn’t love a book by an author she knew to be transgender. This is what I mean by transphobia.

How to argue transphobically that you’re not transphobic
Pamela Paul’s most recent NYT op-eds. People are signing a letter asking the NYT to stop being transphobic, but the NYT keeps publishing Pamela Paul’s disparaging drivel against trans people.

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.