147. NOT ALL GOBSTOPPERS ARE EVERLASTING - Why I'm OK With Changing The Words of Roald Dahl

February 27, 2023 by DaN McKee in Censorship, Communication, Culture, Free Speech, Gender, Identity, History, LGBTQ, Meaning, Media, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Racism

“Don’t let the illusion of sole authorship fool you. Published writing has always been edited by many and influenced by audiences. If you want to read the unblemished, pure and unfiltered draft straight from the author’s mind and onto the page, read something self-published (like this blog…although I do tend to do a few drafts). Anything else you read, assume there have been drafts, edits, alterations, corrections, and the input of many. The author, often, is a group of authors. Dahl is no different.“

144. CHALLENGING PERCEPTIONS - Why Top Tier Football Clubs Continue To Do Women's Football A Disservice

January 30, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Education, Ethics, Gender, Identity, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Sport

“Why complain about this in a philosophy blog? Because a perpetual area of philosophical inquiry concerns perception versus reality, and sometimes this coming apart of perception from reality (or reality from perception) often leads to questions in ethics too. I believe this problem - of the women’s teams of football clubs not sharing the same home ground as their male counterparts - touches on both.“

137. NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS - On Our Obligation to Stay Informed

November 21, 2022 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, Elections, Meaning, Media, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Television, Technology

“If I told a colleague or friend that I have never watched Breaking Bad or watched The Godfather, they might be surprised, even incredulous, but they could not call me irresponsible. If I told them I didn’t watch the news, however, it would be a different order of outrage.“

135. UNLOCKING CAGES - Language, Asylum, Immigration and Abolition

November 07, 2022 by DaN McKee in Communication, Immigration, Identity, Justice, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment, Racism

“When one takes a step back and realises that amidst all the language of ‘asylum seekers’, ‘detainees’, and ‘illegal immigrants’ what we are really talking about is human beings, it is hard not to hang your head in shame at the way our country routinely treats certain human beings.“

134. LIVING WITH GHOSTS - Haunted by Football

October 31, 2022 by DaN McKee in Culture, History, Identity, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Sport

‘I don’t believe in ghosts, yet I am living with one…‘

129. STRANGER THINGS - Leave the Battles to the Children

September 19, 2022 by DaN McKee in Culture, Meaning, Movies, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Pop Culture, Television

“I love the Netflix series Stranger Things. I’m supposed to. It is literally targeted directly to me: a weirdo child of the 80s…“

127. REMEMBERING WHERE WE CAME FROM - on the privilege of travel

September 05, 2022 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Environment, History, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Technology, Work, Travel

“what it is we travel for today? What is the lack we seek to find? What is the need that makes us leave the comfort of our homes and brave the journeys beyond?“

116. NOTHING IS REAL AND YET EVERYTHING IS REAL - On Constructing A Better Reality

April 25, 2022 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Epistemology, Existentialism, Meaning, Mind, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Perception

“Consider: it cannot both be true that advertising has no influence on our thinking and that people spend over £23bn a year on advertising. At worst, people are spending their twenty three billion pounds to influence us in a range of ways we are barely aware of. At best, the only advertising that has ever worked is the advertising for advertising itself which has convinced so many people to spend billions on a product which is utterly useless. Which means advertising does still work.“

107. MUST BORIS GO? - On Empty Symbolism

January 24, 2022 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, COVID19, Elections, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment

“Boris being forced to resign might make me feel momentarily happy, but fundamentally it does nothing to address the actual wrongdoing or make things better. It is symbolic, but the symbolism is largely empty.“

106. WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS - On Our Failure To Communicate

January 17, 2022 by DaN McKee in Education, Epistemology, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Communication

“Often we hear people say something that they didn’t think they said at all. They might accuse us of not listening, or being ignorant of certain things, but the fact remains that if you say X and I hear Y, then you did not communicate X to me, you communicated - whether intentionally or not - Y.“

103. SAYING NO TO WHAT IS DONE - On The Tyranny of Appealing to Decorum

December 06, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Education, Logic, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“But recently I have been thinking about a pet peeve of mine. Possibly the most frustrating appeal to authority of them all. I shall call it the appeal to decorum…“

96. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE INDIVIDUAL: On The Incoherency of Individualism

October 04, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Obligation, Politics

“A student asked if we could imagine a world where Boris Johnson announced a shortage of petrol (or toilet roll, or dried pasta - name whatever limited resource you like) and, instead of immediately triggering panic buying, the announcement is greeted by a wave of collective reason. I will only buy the limited good if I really need it now, understanding that others may need this now limited resource more than I do. Perhaps usually I fill up my car whenever it hits the final quarter of a tank? Now I know there is not enough fuel to go around maybe I’ll wait until I’m closer to empty? That sort of thing…“

94. TWENTY YEARS LATER: What Is The Purpose of Remembering 9/11?

September 20, 2021 by DaN McKee in Culture, Death, Education, Meaning, Militarisation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, War

“It is not said enough that on September 11th, 2001, a significant number of people around the world witnessed on live television the death of nearly three thousand people. Seeing one person die would be considered a trauma. Something requiring years of therapy. Something from which we might never recover. Who knows how many of the terrible events of the last twenty years are the result of a traumatised humanity who never got the professional help they needed to come to terms with what they saw when those towers fell?“

93. PUNK FETISH - The Unpunk Dismissal of Digital Downloads

September 13, 2021 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Environment, Identity, Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Pop Culture, Punk, Technology

“punk’s rebellious spirit - punk’s philosophy - is one of questioning norms and facilitating creative expression of new modes of thought and alternative ways of living. Which brings me to my concern - punk, or at least punks of my generation or older, seem to have gotten stuck on a knee-jerk fetishisation of physical music which is blinding them to some of the merits of modern technology and digital expression.“

84. NO TRUE ARGUMENT - How A Basic Fallacy Stops Criticism And Prevents Peace

May 24, 2021 by DaN McKee in Identity, Ethics, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism, War, Logic

“That this well documented fallacy remains so effective and so frequently used is one of the frustrating reminders that knowledge of philosophy, and of the mechanics of arguments, is not necessarily a path to happiness or contentedness. Often, it simply means being fully aware that an argument is faulty, but seeing it work to convince people regardless.“

82. IS ALL REALITY VIRTUAL? - Reflecting On My Lack Of Concern About VR

May 10, 2021 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Technology

“there are many philosophical anti-realists who accept the non-existence or possible non-existence of widely believed concepts or experiences and yet advocate living as if they are real nevertheless, for a wide range of reasons.“

80. WHAT IS YOUR WAY OF THE NINJA? - A Student Uses Naruto To Overcome Existentialist Ennui

April 19, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Identity, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Student Writing

“what Naruto teaches us is that the ideas others have of you or the person you’re meant to be is not inscribed within us at birth but something we grow into through a process of learning and discovering one’s own purpose“

73. OF NESTS AND PALIMPSEST - Am I Really Making An Aesthetic Choice?

February 08, 2021 by DaN McKee in Environment, Identity, Meaning, Mindfulness, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Work

“I have always loved chaotic collage and my childhood bedroom walls quickly became an ever-evolving palimpsest of posters, pictures, postcards, photos, and things I’d cut out of newspapers or magazines, their content adapting over the years alongside my tastes but generally maintaining the same ragged aesthetic; an aesthetic initially limited to a single cork noticeboard on a nicely painted wall but eventually sprawling out and taking over everything until, at one mad point, I was even hanging posters upside down on my ceiling, occasionally waking startled in the night as they lost their battle with gravity and came crashing down on my face.“

63. THE VALUE OF PATIENCE - Responses to Waiting

November 09, 2020 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, COVID19, Elections, Epistemology, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Time

“It has been a week of waiting.“

62. THE HORROR - Is It Rational To Enjoy Scaring Ourselves?

November 02, 2020 by DaN McKee in Culture, Death, Epistemology, Meaning, Movies, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Pop Culture

“as I curl up with another scary story and find myself predictably sleepless later on, trembling at familiar creaks made new, and far more sinister, by the unsettling images now in my head, I wonder: with horror so real and ever-possible why do we indulge in the self-harm of scaring ourselves intentionally, at Halloween or any other time?“