Blog
Do we find truth in stories? In nostalgia? (A contemplation)
‘Beneath the exhausted rubble of our hearts, this miraculous potion awakened something strangely precious’ — Heinrich Böll. Snow falls lightly on the street vendors. He smells cheap tobacco, hears the squeak of chalk on a blackboard, sees a woman scrubbing a front step.
Stoking ‘trans panic’?! We have to create other political narratives
Andrea Pitzer’s video on ‘Ending Trans Panic’. Political risk doesn’t always fall on the side of standing up for people’s rights. Sometimes, supporting people’s rights helps you win elections.
I’m ‘disdainful’ of the latest U.S. court ruling against trans kids
No one asked me, but 🏳️⚧️ I’ll speak up while I still can. Connecting two court cases: US v. Skrmetti and Anderson v. Crouch. We exist, we should have basic rights, we can explain why. They want to stop us.
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.