Insert Philosophy Here

Much will be said and written about the latest set of indictments handed down against former President Trump. I will leave it to the legal analysts to dissect the minutiae and details of the indictment. I'm a philosopher. So, I want to talk about what is behind all of this, what's really going on with all of this? What are the fundamental principles that underlie these actions, both politically an...

Dr. Eve Poole is my honoured guest to talk about her latest book Robot Souls . Two of the biggest design problems in Artificial Intelligence are how to build robots that behave in line with human values and how to stop them ever going rogue. One under-explored solution to these alignment and control problems might be to examine how these are already addressed in the design of humans. Robot Souls i...

Condensing their philosophies to their most influential ideas.

A subject that has been in the news quite a lot lately as a political issue is diversity, equity, and inclusion, (DEI) and this is a topic that's dear to my heart as a philosophy professor. We need DEI programs, and I am very concerned about the efforts to try to reverse DEI initiatives in higher education. Plus, I am also aware of how part of that backlash from the right-wing to DEI initiatives i...

We truthfully tell students about the importance of education, but all of the students are being shortchanged and overcharged for their experiences in higher education. Tuition is rising, but the money isn’t going toward education. The reasons are the three wrong priorities now dominating higher education.

Much has been made and certainly much more will be made about Joe Biden’s age after he announced he is running for president. Some people suggest that he is too old to run for president. It is prejudice to assume that age makes one unqualified for any role, including the President of the United States. Being in one’s 80s does not in and of itself mean one is incapable of handling responsibilities....

A short podcast this week, relating an experience I had with a businessman who reminded me about the essence of philosophy.

About the meme of the tradwife - the traditional wife. #Philosophy #Marriage

Contemplating the "heretical" idea of teaching an Intro to Philosophy course not beginning with Plato or even any of the Ancient Greek philosophers. I present my arguments.

Donald Trump was in the news a lot yesterday, ALL over the news. That's understandable, as is the reality that many people oppose Trump. They have good reason, but as a philosopher, I have to ask whether Trump is really the problem people should be opposing.

Today, we assume and demand that government by at the consent of the governed. It was not always so. 17th century philosopher John Locke established the concept of government as a convenience, as a service we can hire and fire if it does not serve our interests.

The dominant paradigm in astrophysics is that the universe began in a “big bang,” probably from a singularity, and that the universe, the very fabric of space itself, has been expanding ever since. But does that paradigm of the expanding universe hold up in the face of evidence?

Do you remember Pet Rocks? You need to be older to remember them, but here’s a good history of them . The Pet Rock was the ultimate triumph of marketing over substance. Seeing the recent increase in the number of books and articles about Stoicism reminds me of Pet Rocks. I explain why in this episode.

In recent years, there has been concern about the role of the digital world in movements and forces that could be considered to be anti-democracy. But what, if anything, has the online world changed in the public sphere and democracy that could potentially contribute to anti-democratic behavior? To address this broad question, I bring together several current threads in social philosophy. #Democra...

This week marks the one-year anniversary of this podcast, but more importantly, it is the one-year anniversary of Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In this week's episode, I focus on two questions: why do some people who claim to be anti-war refuse to be against Putin's war, and what factors led them to hold such a hypocritical position. Support this podcast: https://ko-fi.com/insertphilosop...

What are UFOs? It is a surprisingly emotional subject. A large percentage of people who come across this article will read very little of it, having already assumed their preferred conclusion, and not take seriously the argument I am presenting. I hope that does not include you, dear reader. I wrote this to try to have a discussion about the issues rather than the current non-discussion of entrenc...

I've moved to a new podcast: https://dgilesphd.substack.com/podcast Much of the defense of capitalism takes the positives of free enterprise and incorrectly attributes them to capitalism and much of the condemnation of capitalism incorrectly includes free enterprise in that condemnation. To have a fruitful, honest discussion, we need to get past errors and propaganda.

The words “woke” and “wokeness” have recently entered the political lexicon. These words puzzle me as to what they mean and why people use them. “Woke” and “wokeness” are used mostly, if not exclusively, as an insult. They are used mostly, if not exclusively, by the Right. In our current memeocene epoch , the “woke” insult is often attached to an attack meme, whining about an alleged “wokeness.” W...

To “go vegan” is a legitimate dietary choice, but I am about to become a heretic in the vegan evangelists’ eyes, because I will dare to question the vegan dogma. There are multiple fallacies in the vegan ideology but for brevity, in this article, I will concentrate on the “veganism will save the planet” claim. It’s about the climate crisis. Veganism demands the wrong solution by attacking the wron...

How We Are and How We Got Here: A Practical History of Western Philosophy ISBN: 978-1-7358808-8-4.e-book: https://amzn.to/3I42f1S . Paperback: https://amzn.to/3Wz78V9 . A fresh and original presentation that is easy for students, instructors, and general readers to use. This well-written, insightful history of philosophy is basic enough to be understood by those with no prior experience with philo...

Inserting some philosophy into the concept of the New Year. Although the “new year” is celebrated with fanfare and increased alcohol consumption, aside from hangovers, absolutely nothing changes between 31 December and 1 January.

I've moved to a new podcast: https://dgilesphd.substack.com/podcast Siloization – ˈsī-lō-ə-ˈzā-shən : the process of isolating a group apart from others especially in ways that hinder communication and cooperation. How technology is enhancing an age old human habit, the difference between one-way and two-way communication, and how social media plays into these issues.

This year has seen a number of important and contentious elections: Sweden, Italy, United States, Brazil, and Israel, among others. By its nature, politics is agonistic--a process of contention among people--but today it is an antagonistic process in which politicians actively exhort the public to misrecognize and even hate other politicians.

Some people believe that philosophy is disconnected from the world. This is ignorance but it is understandable given the tradition of rationalism and analytic philosophy. But philosophy is at its best when it addresses issues that confront people in their everyday lives. The school of philosophy that is appropriately named "pragmatism" does that, It is a philosophy that connects with real life, do...

The United States likes to think of itself as a democracy. Is it? What is democracy and what are its strengths and weaknesses? This week, I delve into these questions.