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"Trust, Expertise and Hostile Epistemology": A Conversation with C. Thi Nguyen (Keywords: Science; Pseudoscience; Vulnerability; Transparency; Metrics)
Much of the current misinformation crisis seems to derive from misplaced trust. In this conversation, C. Thi Nguyen discusses his idea of “hostile epistemology”, which examines how environmental factors exploit our cognitive vulnerabilities. As finite beings with limited cognitive resources, we constantly reason in a rush due to overwhelming information, leaving gaps that can be exploited. Given this, how can individuals with limited understanding determine which group to tru
C. Thi Nguyen
12 min read


"When is a Fact a Fact?": A Conversation with Peter Vickers (Keywords: Certainty; Truth; Science; Expertise; Consensus )
Is science getting at the truth? Those who spread doubt about science tend to argue that scientists were “sure” in the past, and then they ended up being wrong. This conversation looks to historical investigation and philosophical-sociological analysis to defend science against this potentially dangerous scepticism. Indeed, as Peter Vickers argues, we can confidently identify many scientific claims that are future-proof: they will last forever, so long as science continues.
Peter Vickers
11 min read


Walter Benjamin’s "The Critique of Violence": A conversation with James Martel (Keywords: Violence; Fascism; Law; Police; Myth)
Walter Benjamin’s The Critique of Violence is arguably one of the most complex and critically debated essays ever written on the subject. It shows how violence has been integral to the formation of modern political systems and raises difficult questions about the theological nature of modern secularism. Brad Evans speaks to Professor James Martel to assess the relevance of Benjamin’s Critique today and consider how it can help us address the vexing problem of fascism in our t
James Martel
11 min read


"Towards an Art of Punishment” By Benjamin George Coles (Keywords: Education; Justice; Rehabilitation; Suffering)
Benjamin George Coles argues that artistic means should often be incorporated into punishments – and indeed that we would benefit generally from thinking of punishment in more aesthetic terms. He first identifies the various objectives that we standardly have with punishment and argues for the primacy of an educational one. He then describes a series of real-life educational punishments and closes with a discussion of why the notion of punishment art is such a strange one.
Benjamin George Coles
20 min read


“The Pandemic Was A Portal”: By Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan (Keywords: Covid; Letters; Possible Futures; Collectivity; Inequalities)
Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan reminisces about the radical possibilities that the Covid pandemic presented us with. It was an opening, a portal through which we could have, collectively, walked into another world, a better world. But this was not to last. Slowly, but steadily, the radical potential of the pandemic was eroded and we returned to the 'normal'. But does this the mean portal is closed once and for all? What do we need to remember—to make that impossible world possibl
Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan
12 min read


"Primal Fear: The Weaponisation of Nothingness" By Brad Evans (Keywords: Violence; Bodies; Disappearance; State Power; Sovereignty)
In this opening essay of our recent issue on Violence, Brad Evans argues that "violence of disappearance" is the most extreme and visible form state sovereignty and power takes in contemporary times. This kind of violence often translates into the literal removal and destruction of actual human bodies, irrespective of age and gender, but always only those belonging to particular races, ethnicities or ideologies, by means of genocide, abductions, forced migrations and (un)civi
Brad Evans
7 min read


"Trans-Inclusive Philosophies" by Sophie Grace Chappell (Keywords: Embodiment; Gender; Truth; Reason; Theory; Lived Experience; Analytic Philosophy)
"Philosophical theorizing is made for human beings, and it should fit human beings, and not the other way around."
Sophie Grace Chappell
14 min read


“Sashka and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis”: An Essay by Elvira Basevich (Keywords: Family; Housing Crisis; Poverty; The American Dream; Refugees; Mortality; Memoir)
"My brother, Sashka, ran away from home when he was fifteen. It is not quite right to say he ran away from home; our home deserted us."
Elvira Basevich
18 min read


"Extremism and the Allure of Science": A Conversation with Tracy Llanera and Louise Richardson-Self (Keywords: White Supremacy; Conspiracy Theories; Nationalism; Gender; Essentialism; Objectivity)
"The long-term agendas of various stakeholders of white extremism skew the way that research data is interpreted and engaged."
Tracy Llanera and Louise Richardson-Self
10 min read


"Science, Anti-Science, Pseudoscience, Truth": A Conversation with Nima Bassiri (Keywords: Authority; Trust; Liberalism; Scientism)
"The difference between the trust of science adherents and the trust of science deniers is not the form of trust but merely its content."
Nima Bassiri
17 min read


"The Publisher and the Public": An Essay by Alexandra Grant (Keywords: Art; Authorship; Freedom of Speech; Public Sphere)
"Publishing is a nearly limitless act that has the potential to build communities, expand minds, and offer new perspectives."
Alexandra Grant
8 min read


"Learning We": An Essay by Brooke A. Holmes (Keywords: Classical Education; Pedagogy; Crisis; National Identity; Humanism; Race; 1619 Project; Fanon)
"What defines the human on which the “we” of this nation was (truly) founded?"
Brooke A. Holmes
17 min read
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