262. WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER - On Not Wanting To Win

January 19, 2026 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“Winning is important to people only because capitalism has made it so. Winning is a means, in our rigged and unfair system, for some of our intentionally limited resources or opportunities to be granted to the victor(s). Winning means access to prizes previously forbidden or inaccessible. But it’s important to acknowledge that prizes are a social construct made meaningful only because of their manufactured scarceness or the inequalities we’ve chosen to allow in the distribution of the resources from which the prize comes.“

261. ABNORMAL NORMS - On Philosophy’s Futility In Our Continuing Decline

January 12, 2026 by DaN McKee in History, New Year, Truth, Philosophy Unleashed, Culture, War, Ethics, Militarisation, Communication

“To say there are things of philosophical interest about Donald Trump’s unilateral kidnapping of Venezuela’s president and takeover of the country’s economic resources by force, is to, perhaps, show the failings of philosophy.”

260. CHRISTMAS SHOPPING - In Defence of Chainstores

December 15, 2025 by DaN McKee in Christmas, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Gifts, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Punk

“This is not a defence of capitalism, nor a defence of the current order, but it is a defence of the notion that perhaps the proliferation of corporate chain-stores everywhere, which once made me mourn the quirky individuality of the independent high street, is not necessarily a bad thing.“

222. JUSTIFYING FREEDOM - On Assuming Rights We Might Not Have

October 06, 2025 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Censorship, Culture, Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

"Freedom is not as self-evident as these young people seem to think it is, and an appeal to individual freedom is not the knock-down killer argument they seem to think that it is. In a world where are freedoms are routinely curtailed, often for very good collective reasons, the argument that X can’t be allowed because it will take away some freedom or another is simply insufficient."

217. I WAS WRONG: Rejecting Settling For a Better Tone of Oppression

July 07, 2025 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Authentic Democracy, Censorship, Elections, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Watching the Starmer government continue the same performative cruelty as their Tory predecessors for the last twelve months, I have to admit that all my anarchist and other radical critics were right and I was wrong: the tone of our oppression has not changed under Labour. “

211. TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS - Why the UK Supreme Court Got It Wrong

May 05, 2025 by DaN McKee in Economics, Education, Ethics, Gender, Identity, Justice, LGBTQ, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Despite the court’s lip-service assurance that this judgement does not suddenly make it ok to discriminate against transgender people in the UK, in practice it absolutely does in ways that are both predictable and disgraceful.“

200. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OURSELVES? - Ethical Digital Hygiene

January 13, 2025 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Ethics, Mental Health, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Social Media, Technology

“why do I get news headlines sent to my phone?“

199. DOES SANTA EXIST? - A Christmas Inquiry

December 17, 2024 by DaN McKee in Christmas, Culture, Epistemology, Ethics, Gifts, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“I pointed out that while their ‘evidence’ certainly seemed to point to the idea that none of them were being given gifts from Santa - at least not on the Christmases in question - it did not completely remove the possibility that Santa Claus might still exist…“

197. ASSISTED DYING - A Reasonable Adjustment to Make

November 25, 2024 by DaN McKee in Death, Ethics, Free, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“one could even call it a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure one’s universal ability to end one’s own life is not unfairly denied to people just because of a physical disability (a protected characteristic under UK law). Not allowing assisted suicide is discriminatory to those of us without the physical capability for killing ourselves.“

194. SHOULD THE STATE CARE ABOUT PRIVATE SCHOOLS? - On the Meaning of Independence

November 04, 2024 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, School, Teaching

“the conversation around VAT on independent schools being a conversation purely based around money, costs and affordability, instead of it being a serious public conversation around education and what a good education should look like is a conversation that fails to address what really ails the current state school system and what the advantages of going to, or working in, the independent sector actually are. “

193. THE WRONG CHOICE - Why Voting for Trump is More Than Just A Choice I Disagree With

October 21, 2024 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Elections, Ethics, History, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Sometimes, when given a completely free choice, to choose any other way but one can be so self-sabotaging that there really is no choice at all. The 2024 US election is one such case. Whoever wins, we lose, but if Trump wins, what we lose is so significant we may never be able to win again.“

190. TWO STUDENTS, BOTH ALIKE IN DIGNITY - On The Illusion of Individual Exam Success

September 29, 2024 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

"Does a grade truly reflect the work and ability of a student, or is it merely a result of a context and circumstance over which the student is powerless?"

189. THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE - Still Haunting AI

September 23, 2024 by DaN McKee in Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Justice, Mind, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Student Writing

"if these AI machines were conscious then we would effectively be using them as our slaves; they do not have a choice in the matter and are also not getting paid. This raises important questions on the morality of the use of AI" A student writes on AI and slavery...

188. GRENFELL - On Individual versus Collective Responsibility

September 16, 2024 by DaN McKee in Data, Economics, Education, Ethics, Epistemology, Justice, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment

"The Grenfell Inquiry blamed everyone for the tragedy that took 72 lives, but if everyone is responsible, is anyone responsible?"

187. SHOUT OUT TO CHILDLESS CAT PEOPLE - Why I Still Don't Want Kids

September 09, 2024 by DaN McKee in Culture, Elections, Environment, Ethics, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

"In the wake of this summer’s comments from Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, about ‘childless cat ladies’ (and as a US citizen who is registered to vote in November and will be voting for Kamala Harris…who actually does have step-children) I thought it might be worth reviewing the sound reasons for my own decision not to have children and defending the decision of others who have done likewise..."

185. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - On Why This Anarchist Votes

July 03, 2024 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Elections, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“It is because I am an anarchist, that I will still be voting within a system I don’t believe in for whatever limited, but vital, changes I can bring within that system, to make life better for those it oppresses the most…“

183. I WATCHED EUROVISION - Does That Make Me a Bad Person?

May 12, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Ethics, LGBTQ, Justice, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Punishment, Television, War

“As a self-identified punk since my teenage years, I am very used to feeling shame about watching the Eurovision Song Contest each year, and even hiding the fact from people who know me…“

176. BURN IT DOWN - Why Elitist Institutions Can Never Be Inclusive

January 29, 2024 by DaN McKee in Culture, EDI, Education, Ethics, Gender, LGBTQ, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism, School, Teaching

“those who cling on to the old ways things were need more than an appeal to their personally liking the old standards to maintain them. They need to explain why keeping the bias, and the inequality and lack of inclusion those biased standards cause, is more important to them than making things better.“

175. SUING MADONNA - The Ethics of Honouring Stage Times

January 22, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture

“is Madonna’s late start really “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive”? In philosophical terms: are such late start times, different from those advertised, genuinely immoral?“

172. INFLUENCERS - Why Violent Video Games Must Make Us More Violent

December 03, 2023 by DaN McKee in Culture, Death, Education, Environment, Ethics, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Social Media, Teaching, Wrestling

“When you speak to a classroom of teenagers about the possibility that playing violent video games might make them violent, you can immediately see the smirks and ready yourself for their knee-jerk defensiveness. After all, they are the smirks and defensiveness you, yourself, have given in response to the same suggestion your whole life…“