Insert Philosophy Here

Plato was the first systematic Western philosopher. This episode explains his ideas on human perception, what knowledge is, and how we can know things, including his theory of Forms.

When I teach my Introduction to Philosophy courses, I do so chronologically because philosophy is best understood as a long evolution. Those students often ask me, "why didn't those philosophers centuries ago understand that we are all individuals with different perceptions?" I tell them to be patient, we have to wait until the early 1800s to see philosophers who came to that realization.

On where one belongs, where one can go, and how living abroad changes your perspective on everything.

Available Here: https://amzn.to/3qWV6H6 We are all so used to the terms "left," "right," "liberal," and "conservative" that we hear and use them without a second thought as to their meaning. Politics is the debate over how government and society should be structured and how social institutions should function and to what ends. The political conflict over these issues is often described in terms of...

A philosophical perspective on persons and empires.

Our education system is still dominated by a model developed over 180 years ago that relegates students to products of the system. This factory model of education is counterproductive and harming society. The solution has been out there for a long time and I discuss it, including the ideas of Jane Addams, John Dewey, and Paulo Freire.

“Postmodernist” is the name given to a loosely connected group of thinkers united in their opposition to modernity and its assumptions of the supremacy of reason and continual human progress. Postmodernist philosophers dismantle modernity's illusions to free us to see what really is true and how we really are.

A brief introduction, but more than most philosophy professors will give you. Arendt had important insights into totalitarianism and the human condition.

The mystique and the reality, and advice about the most important part of being a traveler.

I ask these questions in July Fourth, a day when the United States commemorates its independence. A Philosophical Look at Being American.

Good business leaders know that a commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) requires a strong foundation, one upon which a company can build and expand its commitment to every aspect of the organization.

A straight-forward, unsensationalized discussion of Kant's Categorical Imperative, discussing his argument in detail. Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvdUp1Z-Luc

It has long been taught that there was a 'dark age" in Europe devoid of intellectual activity. This myth is debunked by the reality that medieval philosophy was alive and well.

That things change was a problem for Greek philosophers. Aristotle had a theory for how we can understand change. His solution to the problem of change affected Western thinking for many centuries.

Some ancient ethical systems still have relevance to our business practices today.

A philosophical exploration of the hows and whys of conspiracy theories. Extended text discussion at https://insertphilosophyhere.com/conspiracy-theories/.

I created Insert Philosophy Here to insert philosophy into anything and everything. That includes popular culture. This week I take on the TV show, The Curse of Oak Island, questioning its approach, defending it from critics, but also calling out its unnecessary sensationalism.

Fourth part of my series on recognition. I talked about the positives of recognition in earlier parts. In this episodes, I talk about how recognition can be exploited to enact villainous acts.

An overview of what we are talking about when we are talking about political philosophy, with an eye toward the emergence of political philosophy in the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

Third part of my series on recognition. In this episode, I trace the history of the philosophy of recognition, focusing on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, G.W.F. Hegel, and Axel Honneth.

Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had two distinct philosophies. I focus on his second one because in it, he abandoned his first one.

Covers two topics: why philosophy is best taught chronologically and why we still study Ancient Greek philosophy. Most Introduction to Philosophy textbooks present philosophy topically--a collection of separate topics. I argue that philosophy is best taught as the progressive history of philosophers responding to events and building on previous ideas. That process for teaching Western philosophy b...

Part 2 in a series of talks about the concept of recognition. Why do injustices continue to happen? We say it is because of prejudice but what is prejudice? It is difficult to fight something that we cannot define and one of the important tasks in philosophy is understanding what is behind social phenomena like prejudice.

First in a multi-part discussion of the concept of recognition that is central to social cohesion and structures. In this part, I discuss the seeming contradiction of countries' attitudes toward refugees from war, attitudes that can be explained by recognition theory.

First in a series of talks on general topics in philosophy. Many people have attempted to explain what philosophy is. Some have said philosophy is thinking about thinking, reflecting on experience, a pursuit of truth. Philosophy is all of those things, but it is also something much more. Here is my definition.