Doing Philosophy

Timothy Williamson (University of Oxford) and Respondents

Common sense, thought experiments, doing philosophy

7,500 words

Metaphysics, Epistemology

"Mathematics is a science, but not a natural science. Similarly, I suggest, philosophy is a science, but not a natural science."

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The Philosophy of Fascism

Jason Stanley (Yale University)

Fascism, democracy, socialism, history

2,700 words

Political Philosophy, Social Philosophy

"If I am right, the view that fascism is an historically located concept is not just false, it is dangerously false."

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You Are Not An Algorithm

Justin E.H. Smith (University of Paris)

Mind, technology, subjectivity

2,000 words

History of philosophy

"We betray our real nature when we entertain the idea that algorithms are not just external crutches, but reflections of our true selves.”

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Philosophy as a Vocation

Catherine Wilson (University of York)

Descartes, Kant, early modern philosophy, moral philosophy

1,000 words

Metaphysics, Moral Philosophy

"To my mind a real contribution to moral philosophy is not a one-liner, supposedly deduced from a set of acceptable premises." 

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Nietzsche and the Alt-Right

Hugo Drochon (University of Nottingham)

Political philosophy, ethics, identity, fascism

2,000 words

History of philosophy

"That critique of decadence, egalitarianism and democracy is what draws Spencer and his Alt-Right ilk to Nietzsche’s work." 

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Different but Equal

Chiara T. Ricciardone (Bard College)

Diversity, hierarchy, ancient philosophy, political philosophy

1,750 words

Political philosophy, social philosophy

"How can democracies celebrate and cultivate diversity without undermining the commitment to equality? Is it even possible to describe differences without (re)inscribing hierarchies?"

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Finding Social Groups in Networks of Relations

Katherine Ritchie (CUNY Graduate Centre)

Identity, social construction, ontology, groups

2,650 words

Social metaphysics

“In seeking to understand identity, our options are not that identity groups are fictions or that they are biologically defined categories.”

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Philosophy and Hope

Alexander Douglas  (University of St. Andrews)

Rationalism, early modern philosophy, scientism, Spinoza 

1,500 words

Metaphysics, History of Philosophy

"I'm not entirely sure why contemporary philosophers are so keen to appear hard-headed. They might be afraid that scientists will make fun of them."

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Interrogating Lived Experience

Anya Daly (University of Melbourne)

Merleau-Ponty, perception, lived experience, embodiment

1,600 words

Phenomenology, Buddhist Philosophy

"The world is 'already there' before reflection begins and this is the launching place of philosophy; philosophers are driven to understand the hidden structures of experience and the world."

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The Philosophic Voice

Michael Bavidge (Newcastle University)

Ontology, silence, Heidegger, 

2,750 words

Ontology

"Thoughts about the world both demand inclusion in the totality and make inclusion impossible."

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Questioning the Questions

Lani Watson (University of Edinburgh)

Questions, doing philosophy, epistemology

1,350 words

Epistemology

"At least part of the task of philosophy is to uncover the presuppositions in our thinking. One of the simplest ways to access these presuppositions is to look at the questions we ask and encounter  and interrogate them."

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