Browsing All Posts filed under »In the News«

Congratulations to our Founding Editor: Dr. Justin Caouette

October 2, 2018 by

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Bridgewater State University recently published a profile of our very own Dr. Justin Caouette outlining what many people close to him already know: Justin is currently making a difference in the lives of students attending BSU. Many of us (myself included) who are first generation college students–students with neither parent having attended college–are often faced […]

Truth and meaning in the age of Trump

July 18, 2018 by

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I learned philosophy of language in the dogmatic antiquity of a couple of years ago. Many of my colleagues and senior philosophers seem still to cling to these dogmas, like “a sentence is made true by its disquotation.” In the now-times, though, it seems especially important to show where we went wrong in developing our […]

Form-Over-Content Morality: Denying Service

June 26, 2018 by

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Charges of hypocrisy are popular in the current political landscape, and hypocrisy is certainly a vice, if a minor one. But much of what’s going on in these charges is an emphasis on form over content. To say any action is immoral requires an understanding of what it is in reaction to. Spitting in my […]

People Aren’t Upset With Michelle Wolf Because She Was Wrong. They’re Upset Because She’s Right.

May 2, 2018 by

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There seems to be two main categories of disapproval when it comes to Michelle Wolf’s speech at the White House Correspondent Dinner. The first is the predictable faux-outrage by Trump’s army of sycophants. During a more innocent time, their affectations of outrage might have warranted a response. But in the here and now of the […]

Powerful Medicine; a dimension of the Nassar case

January 27, 2018 by

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I want to start this post with a really clear content notice; if you’re uncomfortable with or likely to be triggered by descriptions of sexual assault, you may want to gird yourself or take a pass on this post entirely. I experienced nausea myself in reading the accounts, but I don’t think it is really […]

Failures in teaching, discipline

November 21, 2017 by

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A few notes before I get into the nitty gritty of this issue: I’m a graduate student at the University of Calgary, a member of the university’s Graduate Student Association (our union), and the president of the philosophy department’s affiliated Graduate Student Association chapter. Nothing I say in this post is made in those roles; […]

A History Lesson Every American Should Know

August 28, 2017 by

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***The following post was authored by a professor of philosophy in North America that wishes to remain anonymous.  They say that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Well, I have studied history books, and here’s a history lesson. Several decades ago, a boorish man with no morals came to hold […]

On Hope, Truth, and Lying

February 1, 2017 by

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The Trump administration is, for those of us concerned with improving our world, more disturbing than any I have encountered. It’s not that Trump will necessarily make things worse than G.W. Bush, who started two wars, or Ronald Reagan, who began our slide into a society of increasing inequality, or even Barack Obama, who persecuted […]

Some Facts about Facts

January 26, 2017 by

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Facts about Facts Facts, and in particular “alternative facts”, have been in the news a lot this week, and for good reason (I toyed with calling this post “Facts: talking metaphysics to power”). I’ll have something to say about “alternative facts” later in the post, but first I’m going to talk about facts more generally, […]

The Politics of Crybabyism

November 29, 2016 by

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Perhaps Donald Trump’s most salient psychological characteristic is his tendency to complain loudly and publicly if he does not get his way: that is, his tendency to be a crybaby. So why, then, is he so popular with his supporters? Weren’t they the ones who hated the culture of offense, the sensitiveness that was forcing […]

There’s no water in Flint

November 28, 2016 by

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The most banal example philosophers use in discussing conceptual analysis is water; from Putnam’s twin earth papers to Kaplan’s two-dimensionalism, this is the classic example that is supposed to illustrate something valuable about the way that concepts work. I won’t delve too much into the traditional analyses, here, though a familiar observer may note this […]

Direct Democracy

November 21, 2016 by

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I was visiting friends in northern California during the US election, and although I have thoughts and opinions about Trump, US politics and the electoral college, I’m going to put those issues aside. Instead I would like to share my experience with the ballot propositions in California (I’m from NY, so I have little experience […]

America: on Existentialism and Obligation

November 9, 2016 by

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This is not meant as a rhetorical exercise; it is a genuine issue I’m wrestling with re: my own academic future. As such, please keep comments respectful and relevant. Content notice for discussion of the repugnant positions of the United States’s President and Vice President elect. In October of 1992, on a stage in Georgia, […]

Kinds and Classification: Why the Gun Control and Canine Profiling Analogy Breaks Down

October 14, 2016 by

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Though this post is partly in response to comments on my previous post concerning breed specific legislation from  Mike Steiner, a fellow APT contributor, this is now, in effect, also a response to Yvevs Boisvert’s post for the Globe and Mail. Now is a timely moment to discuss the analogy between pit bulls and guns […]

Free Speech and Safe Space

September 22, 2016 by

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I’ve debated for a little while about whether or not to write about the ongoing cultural discussion on “free speech” and “safe space” protections on campuses. Of course, this seems a large and timely topic, given the presence of the University of Chicago letter. (I will come to the Chicago letter a bit late in […]

On Breed Specific Legislation, Public Safety, and Why The Research Matters

July 16, 2016 by

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There is recent nation-wide attention to animal control issues concerning dogs in Canada.  The target is “pit bulls” or dogs with traits that resemble particular characteristics of breeds included in this generic term.  One common response to serious dog bites and maulings is to lobby for a ban of particular breeds by enacting Breed Specific […]

The Art of Presentations

June 13, 2016 by

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Pat Kelly from the CBC gives an hilariously accurate account of qualities that comprise successful presentations.  The catch line is: “Thought Leader gives a talk that will inspire your thoughts.” Watch the video here. “Let’s look at the picture of the planet for no reason.” I take it that the definition of ‘success’ here simply […]

Aristotelian Rape Training: Pornography and Rape Culture

April 8, 2016 by

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Someone asked me the other day what I thought about the Jian Ghomeshi case. Jian Ghomeshi, if you aren’t familiar, is a Canadian radio personality who was charged with sexually assaulting women. His accusers described him suddenly turning violent, yanking their hair, slapping them. What was not in dispute in the case was that Ghomeshi […]

Assisted Death? Please Euphemize Me Now, Doctor

April 5, 2016 by

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George Orwell comes up a lot lately. The term “Orwellian” is ubiquitous in current social commentary. As such, I won’t use the hackneyed term in this post—although I will reference the word “apophasis”. This is, after all, a post about the use of words. In particular, the use of the words “assisted death.” As a […]

The Ethics of Inaction in the Philosophy Profession

May 18, 2015 by

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Earlier this year (in February) I was fortunate enough to present some of my work in St. Louis at the central meeting of the APA. Before I left, I asked (on social media) if any philosophers would be heading down to Ferguson to take part in the protest or to lend a hand more generally, […]