Blog
How we appear, quivering
On the book ‘Deviant Matter: Ferment, Intoxicants, Jelly, Rot’ by Kyla Wazana Tompkins. We have ‘a wish to look directly at what is facing us,’ the oncoming blob, the mess we travel with and against.
GOP seeks to cut funding to U.S. hospitals supporting gender transition
Reporting by Jael Holzman asks if Democrats will allow it. If Democrats infight (‘bullying’ each other re: ‘cultural’ issues) and stop talking about the economy, they may lose even harder next time, says a pollster.
The anti-trans movement protested outside the U.S. Supreme Court
The Telegraph reports on a 17-year-old’s identity without asking them. Someday they may be ready to talk to sympathetic people who care about them, maybe including responsible journalists. It’s fine if they’re trans.
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.