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.“

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.“

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.”

159. TAKING STUDENT SILLINESS SERIOUSLY - Lightning McQueen and the Importance of Battling Deepities

June 24, 2023 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Education, Logic, Movies, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, School

“Like garbage washing up on the shore of a polluted sea, the Philosophy classroom is often where a lot of these deepities come to rest as students, impressed by their apparent wisdom, share them with the one person they think will be equally impressed: their Philosophy teacher. Often those students are soon disappointed, even angry, when that teacher is not impressed at all and, instead, pops the bubble of the illusion and exposes its emptiness.“

153. PHILOSOPHY AND THE CORONATION - Questions Raised By The Crowning Of A New King

May 08, 2023 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Censorship, Culture, Free Speech, History, Identity, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“The coronation of a new King is an undoubtedly historic moment, but it raises a lot of philosophical questions…“

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?“

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…‘

132. BLACK HISTORY WITHOUT TEETH - On The Potential Epistemic Deficit of Black History Month

October 10, 2022 by DaN McKee in Academic Freedom, Black Lives Matter, EDI, Education, History, Identity, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism, School

“we need to first address with students core concepts like structural racism, white supremacy and white supremacist thinking, historical constructivism, critical race theory, colonialism, ideology, education policy and curriculum design. Without that, it will be very hard for the students we teach to place any of what they learn during Black History Month into a meaningful, long-term schema of knowledge.“

131. UNWELCOME VISITORS - When Jordan Peterson Came to Michaela

October 03, 2022 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Communication, Culture, Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Q&A, School, Academic Freedom

“We should have more unwelcome visitors to our schools, not fewer. More opportunities for students to ask questions and poke holes. More academic freedom to develop an enduring culture of critique and scrutiny so that ideas are never accepted without a fight. If we are worried about the young and impressionable minds of our students, it’s time that we stopped them being so impressionable.“

130. THE TRIAL & EXECUTION OF SOCRATES - A guest writer reflects on Socrates and asks: 'is democracy a tyranny'?

September 25, 2022 by DaN McKee in Ethics, History, Justice, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment

“The same law which produces justice can be unjust and immoral if interpreted by a tyrant. Tyranny in democracy is almost undetectable because the whole system is depicted to be busy in the service and security of people. But what if the people become a tyranny? Sometimes the fanaticism of the majority, or the sophistry and rhetoric of the minority, can take the shield of law and trample moral codes.“

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?“

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.“

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…“

101. TEACH MORE PHILOSOPHY IN SCHOOLS - Why Philosophy Deserves Distinct Curriculum Space

November 22, 2021 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Education, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, School, Work

“Not all study of Philosophy ends in revolution. But it could. Certainly the careful and methodological scrutiny of our ideas and concepts - shining a probing light on the underlying arguments which uphold them - and learning how to question the fundamentals of logic make it harder for the manipulations of rhetoric and emotive reasoning to deceive us and might therefore lead to outrage if such deceptions are exposed in the Philosophy classroom. But this ought to be welcomed if one of the end goals of our education system is a student’s ability to be an informed citizen of a cooperative democracy. One might therefore see Philosophy’s diminished, corrupted, place on the school curriculum as evidence that producing such capable citizenry is not, therefore, one of the actual aims of this current education system.“