The debate between prison reformists and prison abolitionists is raw and heavily politicised. This increases the risk of each side in the debate speaking past each other or criticising straw man versions of their opponents’ arguments. In this conversation with Andy West, criminologist Jason Warr offers an even-handed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of both positions, along with some reflections on the morality of punishment.

Is it wrong to value humans above all else? In this provocative essay, Christopher Belshaw explores the limits of anthropocentrism, weighing our moral duties to other creatures and the natural world. He argues that while extreme human-centered thinking is flawed, our unique moral agency brings special responsibilities. We shouldn’t dominate nature, but nor should we deny our moral role as custodians. He presents a nuanced defense of human significance without giving into supe

Critical race theory (CRT) is based on the premises of pervasive racial inequality and a social constructionist (i.e. anti-essentialist) conception of race. It challenges the idea that the superficially colorblind nature of the law means the law is race-neutral. Amongst other things, critics of CRT have argued that it is an anti-scientific research program. But are these claims correct? To what extent have these pseudoscientific claims played a role in fomenting the backlash

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

"Philosophical theorizing is made for human beings, and it should fit human beings, and not the other way around."

"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."

"The long-term agendas of various stakeholders of white extremism skew the way that research data is interpreted and engaged."