Blog

Saying ‘cleareyed’ when you mean ‘exclusionary’
The latest transphobic article in ‘Tablet’. He’s giving readers permission to reject trans people. He’s specifically telling cis gay men it’s OK to reject trans men , who can never be men.

She made an anti-trans statement in a professional setting. I said no.
No, that famous person doesn’t love trans people. I corrected the record. She said Germaine Greer likes trans people. She well knew that Greer has, in fact, been hostile to trans women. Otherwise she wouldn’t have brought it up.

When technofeudalism manifests as transphobia
Life is both experiential and commodified, but they don’t want us to have our gender in any dimension. Technofeudalist Elon Musk admits he’s driven by his own transphobia. Anti-trans people are trying to shut us down, and trans people are trying to survive.

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.