Thinking Beyond The Curriculum
Read More“As is now tradition here at Philosophy Unleashed, I thought we'd mark the end of the toughest academic year in living memory - and the start of the summer break - with a look back at the last year of Philosophy Unleashed.”
Read More“Given that we do not yet live in an anarchy, and on July 19th we will still be living in the same exploitative capitalist system which limits so many of our options and choices, the end of these particular laws does not mean we are being given radical new freedom by our government. The only thing being given the green light here is capitalism, to resume its exploitation as usual at the continued expense of our wellbeing.“
Read More“Miranda Fricker wrote of what she called “epistemic injustice” - “a wrong done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower”. She identified two forms of such injustice: “testimonial injustice”, the injustice of denying credibility to someone’s word, and “hermeneutical injustice”, the injustice of disadvantaging someone in their access to interpretive resources and forming an obstacle to their capacity to know. This week a member of Sage, the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, urged the UK to expand its official list of Covid symptoms so that UK citizens could better identify if they have the virus. In this article I intend to show that by ignoring this advice, and keeping the official list of symptoms restricted to a high fever, a new continuous cough, or a loss of sense of smell or taste, the UK government is permitting a continuing epistemic injustice to occur which is causing unnecessary and highly preventable suffering.“
Read More“Many months ago, a student suggested several topics I might like to cover on future Philosophy Unleasheds. While I did one straight away, the remaining questions were soon lost to time as life got in the way and I forgot about the email entirely…“
Read More“In the days since, many have criticised the broadcasters for continuing to show traumatic footage. The collapsed player, the crying teammates, the shocked fans, the devastated wife, even the philosophical pundits shaken by what they had seen. Couldn't, in fact shouldn't, the stream have been cut and the tragedy kept as far out of the public eye as it could be?“
Read More“If the relationship of knower to supposed transferee is asymmetrical and hierarchical, abuses can happen.“
Read More“The anarchist thinker, Errico Malatesta, once suggested growing up with external authority imposed upon us was like learning to walk in leg braces. We don’t even realise the imposition that is dragging us down, and the limitations put upon our ability to walk, let alone run. We simply trudge as best we can in the belief that this restricted movement is the best propulsion possible because we know no better.“
As always the respite from teaching for a week means a respite from Philosophy Unleashed too. Take a look at the archives, enjoy the nearly one hundred articles we have amassed over the last two years of our existence, and if there’s a topic you’d like to see something written about that we haven’t yet covered then, please, write an article for us!
See you back here with new content on June 7th…
Read More“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.“
Read More“There is a sense the wheels have come off. And so the idea is we need to "get back to basics". Administer punitive sanctions for loose ties, untucked shirts, off-brand hoodies, phones and earphones. Get the kids to stand up behind their chairs in silence when the lesson begins. Ask them to remove their coats if the temperature no longer requires one. The argument goes that if the students look ready to learn, they will be ready to learn...and conversely, their currently sloppy appearance must therefore be a sign that they are not in the right mindset to do well at school.“
Read More“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.“
It’s May Day - an International Worker’s Day in memory of the Haymarket Affair and the battle for an eight-hour work day, amongst other things. As the teaching profession encroaches more and more into the free time of its employees, and our unions do very little about it, and teachers encroach more and more into the free time of their students with endless homework and revision tasks, this week I will not be writing a new Philosophy Unleashed and encourage you instead to consider what needs to be done in your school or workplace to make the working day more humane for all? Longer or more frequent breaks? Democratic say in the decisions that impact on you rather than top-down decision making? Looser rules, or no rules at all, about what you wear? Being left to work independently without micromanagement? Being able to collaborate more with others? Whatever it is - identify it and then work on making it happen. Happy May Day from Philosophy Unleashed.
Read More“It was only a four-part series, and for the first three weeks that Sunday ritual was diligently observed. On the final Sunday of the series, we talked eagerly that morning about what would happen in that evening’s finale.
And then I said something crazy: ‘but what if we don’t watch it?’“
Read More“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“
There’s been a lovely write-up HERE about what we’re trying to achieve with the anarchism and punk book project that I’d love you to check out - and remember, there’s still time to chip in for the crowdfunding to help keep costs down, pay translators, etc… https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-anarchism-and-punk-book-project
Two weeks away from the horrific hustle and bustle of a busy school in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. Two weeks of not having to wear a mask from 8:30am - 3:30pm. Two weeks of not having to shudder at the number of student noses I see each and every lesson as their flimsy face coverings slip down and put us all at risk. Two weeks of finally letting my hands rehydrate from all the cheap bulk-buy hand sanitiser. And, as always, two weeks away from Philosophy Unleashed.
If you miss your fix of new philosophy during the holiday lull, please do some yourself and write us something (submissions HERE). We’ll be back again with a new post every Monday morning at 8am from April 19th.
Read More“In my classroom, I don’t feel my free-speech is threatened, or my right as a non-Muslim to draw or see images of a Prophet I don’t believe in impeded, if I refrain from showing images to my students which I know violates their beliefs. It is an act of kindness to them, not an act of repression to me.“
Hi all - I’m writing a chapter for an upcoming collection of books on Anarchism and Punk, coming out later this year on Active Distribution. In a bid to keep it both DIY and global we want to fund things like translation costs and contributor copies, as well as keep distribution costs low, through crowdfunding. If you’re able and interested in supporting the project - please check out the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-anarchism-and-punk-book-project
Many thanks for your support!
- DaN
Read More“As I sat registering my form of Year 13 students and preparing to go teach my Year 11s, I asked them how they were feeling about being brought back to school in a pandemic to not be taught anything new and just focus on revision for an upcoming series of assessments? Not a single one was happy about it. Not a single student felt they were being “educated” anymore. They were there merely to be prepped for probing, so that they could amass as many “data points” as the school needed in order to give them a final letter or number and rank their so-called accomplishments.“
Read More“If you suggested that women should be barred from having the same rights as men because of their reproductive organs you would be laughed at or face a lawsuit for discrimination. We have overcome these old ways of thinking with technological, intellectual and emotional advances which have rendered the old narratives obsolete. Yet for some reason the myth of gender norms seems harder for people to shake despite the obvious failings of the binary male/female model.“