"There is a deep-rooted folk concept of the human organism, which assumes that our bodies are pure and uncontaminated by outside matter."

"Before anything can be, there must be made nothing; prior to this contraction, nothing is not – where, after all, would it be?"

"We must ask what it means to do philosophy when we expect that the next generation will be worse off, in many ways, than our generation."

"If one needs a dwelling place to start thinking, an artwork can serve as a kind of shelter where thinking can take place. "

"Who can speak is a fundamental political question – both in the meaning of who is allowed to speak, and who is seen as a speaking being."

"Emotions are based rather on affective concerns, concerns over what really matters to the subjects­­ – what we “give a damn” about."

"Selfhood is not only what allows us to mark our difference to others, it is also what permits us to share a perspective with them."

"The phenomenon of 'continental' philosophy or even 'French theory' is a thoroughly Anglophone one."

"While it may seem the thing we’re most fluent in, we’re actually strangers to mind, insofar as it is an unfinished and ongoing category."

"We can understand Mexican ontology as a means to push back against inherited and imposed ontological schemas of all sorts."

"Inclusivity sees non-belonging as the contingent product of an unjust order that it strives to eliminate."

"Under capitalism, politics consists in debating the general interest as a means to surreptitiously advancing one’s own special interest."

"While even deskilled work requires complex capacities, we shouldn’t think that these kinds of work are skilled in the full-fat sense."

Blending history, activism, and theory, this article unpacks the complexity of “queer” as both identity and critique. From grassroots movements to academic debates, it shows how queer politics resists assimilation and questions dominant norms. At a time of rising backlash against LGBTQ+ rights, it calls for renewed attention to language, power, and the importance of challenging systems that marginalize diverse identities.

"It may be that Berkeley is emerging as something of a figurehead for a particular stance in the so-called 'culture wars'."

"Conceiving of political philosophy as somewhat like a religion helps one attain a synoptic view of its place in human history."

"We should abandon the idea of a 'Western Philosophy' and re-examine the history of philosophy without its distorting effects."

"Philosophers are trained in the kind of abstract critical reasoning that is problematically absent from the sciences today."

"The study of 'other worlds' can only be worthwhile if it ultimately helps us to better navigate the world which we currently inhabit."

Amie L. Thomasson examines the role of philosophy in shaping concepts rather than making scientific discoveries. She proposes that philosophy can focus on conceptual engineering—improving, refining, and constructing concepts to better serve social, legal, and scientific purposes. This approach avoids rivalry with the natural sciences and emphasizes the importance of how we think and talk about the world, showing how conceptual change can transform practices and perspectives i