180. WHAT PHILOSOPHY COULD BE - Breaking The Norms That Don't Have To Be Norms

March 04, 2024 by DaN McKee in Academic Freedom, Communication, Culture, Education, Logic, Meaning, Philosophy, Perception, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“Philosophy is difficult. But it is only as difficult as we choose to make it. Rigorous thinking does not have to be alienating. It does not have to speak a secretive and opaque language different from the way non-philosophers speak. That is a choice, not a necessity. Nor too should academic specialisation and disciplinary complexity be mistaken as necessary components of philosophy. Navel-gazing is still just navel-gazing, even when it props up an entire job market. So too is self-interested gatekeeping intended to preserve a questionable system rather than make it accessible to the masses.“

167. THERE CAN BE NO JUSTICE THROUGH BLOODSHED - Israel, Gaza, Palestine, and the need for some different thinking.

October 22, 2023 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Death, Ethics, Identity, Immigration, History, Justice, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment, War

“Politics should not be a team sport. When it is, we’re doing it wrong. Usually because we’ve been manipulated by those who benefit from the division. It should never be Israel versus Palestine. My team versus yours. It should be ensuring our collectively assured mutual existence, always. Finding new ways to live together. Mutual aid. Walls and borders torn down. Sharing instead of seizing. Acknowledging wrongdoing and finding a way forward.”

161. THE GREAT CONSPIRACY - On Philosophy Classes and Dangerous Thought

September 11, 2023 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, Education, Epistemology, Ethics, Meaning, Mental Health, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Perception, Politics, School, Technology

“conspiracy thinking - the initial pathway that leads to conspiracy answers - trades on many of the motivating assumptions of philosophy as an activity: a desire to get to some underlying hidden truth beyond the superficial understanding of everyday life.“

157. I WON'T MISS SIR - On Naming Our Teachers

June 11, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Education, Gender, Identity, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Work

“Any time we approach an area of education with an attitude of it being too difficult or even impossible for someone to do something, we make it so through a process of self-fulfilling-prophecy.“

156. USE YOUR ILLUSION - Magicians and Reality

June 05, 2023 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Truth

“I used to think it was the clowns who were the real heroes - speaking truth to power about the absurdity of power and mocking those in authority with satire and parody. But nowadays I think it might be the magicians.“

155. THE IMPERMANENCE OF VALUE - Fluctuating Perspectives on Worth

May 22, 2023 by DaN McKee in Economics, Epistemology, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“Philosophers might ask: if value changes all the time, is there really such a thing as value at all? If we can’t pin it down - define it - then is it really anything? Is there anything eternally valuable and undeniably valuable to all? But even in philosophy value fluctuates based on who is doing the valuing. To some thinkers that question is important. Personally, I see no value at all in finding an answer to that question and would rather set my mind to other things.“

152. INSPIRED PHILOSOPHY - Where Do Ideas Come From?

April 24, 2023 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Obligation, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“When I sat down to write this post I was uninspired, yet now I have no doubt that I will, yet again, meet my self-imposed deadline and have a new Philosophy Unleashed post completed exactly when it is needed. Inspiration was there all along. I just had to find it. But what is inspiration?“

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.“

142. THE INEVITABILITY OF FANTASY - Leaning Into Storytelling In Lieu of Truth

January 16, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Epistemology, Existentialism, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Truth

“The more depressed you are the more accurately you see the world.“

140. SABBATICAL - On The Importance of Taking a Break

December 12, 2022 by DaN McKee in Christmas, COVID19, Education, Free, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Work

“It shouldn’t be surprising to realise that, for an animal which literally shuts completely down every night and knocks itself unconscious as a means of essential restoration, stopping is good for human beings.“

133. THE HARD PROBLEM OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS - On The Difficulty and Need For Waking From Dogmatic Slumbers

October 17, 2022 by DaN McKee in Black Lives Matter, Communication, Culture, EDI, Education, Existentialism, Identity, Mind, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism

“I’ve been thinking a lot about consciousness this week. Not the traditional philosophical questions about mind and body, but political consciousness. Specifically Black Consciousness.“

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?“

118. SHOWING OUR TRUE SELVES - What Does It Tell Us When We Tidy Our House?

May 16, 2022 by DaN McKee in Culture, Obligation, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“If we all are running around like headless chickens to make things look nice whenever someone visits then that must mean that none of us actually live our lives in the way that we present to others that we do.“

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.“