108. THOUGHT POLICE - Why Thoughts Might Matter As Much As Deeds

February 07, 2022 by DaN McKee in Censorship, Ethics, Free Speech, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Racism

“Imagine the police-force where you live offer you the choice of one of two officers to be your local law enforcement from now on:
1) An officer who holds prejudiced thoughts against people like you (taken to mean whatever characteristic you want it to that identifies you specifically - i.e. ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, hair colour, accent - whatever).
2) An officer who holds no prejudice against people like you.
Both officers have taken a pledge not to discriminate against certain groups of people and have received training to support this pledge. There will be sanctions in place if such discrimination happens and Officer #1 is fully aware that their prejudiced thoughts would not be condoned if turned into discriminatory action.
Which officer would you choose?“

105. MY SPIDEY-SENSE WAS TINGLING - Have We Forgotten How To Deal With Conflict in Civil Society?

January 10, 2022 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Movies, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture

“sometimes living together means compromise and not doing exactly what you want.“

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…“

100. UNVACCINATED NEED NOT APPLY - Ethics, Healthcare Jobs and Mandatory Vaccination

November 15, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Ethics, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Work

“The anarchist in me naturally balks at any enforcement of mandatory rules from on high. But the ethicist in me can see the moral reasons why those people either looking after the most at risk of dying from Covid-19, or most likely to come into intimate contact with large numbers of members of the public, specifically for health-related reasons, should want to do what they can to protect both themselves and others.“

98. INTERPRETING THE RESULTS - What Do Votes Ever Really Tell Us?

October 18, 2021 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Data, Elections, Epistemology, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“the arguments for democracy are independent from the mechanics of voting and, too frequently, true, authentic, democracy is impeded by those unfit mechanics, not aided by it“

96. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE INDIVIDUAL: On The Incoherency of Individualism

October 04, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Obligation, Politics

“A student asked if we could imagine a world where Boris Johnson announced a shortage of petrol (or toilet roll, or dried pasta - name whatever limited resource you like) and, instead of immediately triggering panic buying, the announcement is greeted by a wave of collective reason. I will only buy the limited good if I really need it now, understanding that others may need this now limited resource more than I do. Perhaps usually I fill up my car whenever it hits the final quarter of a tank? Now I know there is not enough fuel to go around maybe I’ll wait until I’m closer to empty? That sort of thing…“

92. WORKING ON HOLIDAY: Am I Really About To Defend Dominic Raab?

September 06, 2021 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Ethics, Free, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Politics, War, Work

“the issue I would like to consider as we return for the 2021/22 academic year is, surprisingly, given my usual vocal opposition to all things Tory, whether Dominic Raab actually did anything wrong by staying on holiday while Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. Or, more broadly, whether holiday should mean holiday - a total cessation of work - even when your work brings with it important responsibilities.“

90. FREEDOM DAY - An Anarchist Account

July 12, 2021 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Authentic Democracy, COVID19, Economics, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Given that we do not yet live in an anarchy, and on July 19th we will still be living in the same exploitative capitalist system which limits so many of our options and choices, the end of these particular laws does not mean we are being given radical new freedom by our government. The only thing being given the green light here is capitalism, to resume its exploitation as usual at the continued expense of our wellbeing.“

87. WHEN TO LOOK AWAY - Reflecting on Christian Eriksen's Collapse

June 21, 2021 by DaN McKee in Censorship, Culture, Death, Ethics, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Sport

“In the days since, many have criticised the broadcasters for continuing to show traumatic footage. The collapsed player, the crying teammates, the shocked fans, the devastated wife, even the philosophical pundits shaken by what they had seen. Couldn't, in fact shouldn't, the stream have been cut and the tragedy kept as far out of the public eye as it could be?“

79. OFFENSIVE IMAGES - An Ethic of Kindness

March 29, 2021 by DaN McKee in Censorship, Culture, Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Religion, School

“In my classroom, I don’t feel my free-speech is threatened, or my right as a non-Muslim to draw or see images of a Prophet I don’t believe in impeded, if I refrain from showing images to my students which I know violates their beliefs. It is an act of kindness to them, not an act of repression to me.“

71. RETHINKING HOW WE LISTEN TO MUSIC - Towards A Meaningful Ethics of Streaming

January 25, 2021 by DaN McKee in Charity, COVID19, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Music

“…what is actually missing from the current business model of the music industry is not more pennies per stream, but a meaningful ethics instead of mere talk of ethics with very little substance. So here is my first attempt at drafting some…“

66. IF A POST FALLS IN THE WOODS - When Is A Post Not A Post?

November 30, 2020 by DaN McKee in Obligation, Mental Health, Education, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, School

“And yet this post exists…”

61. WEAR A MASK - Why Exercising Personal Freedom Should Not Come at the Expense of Others

October 19, 2020 by DaN McKee in Charity, COVID19, Culture, Death, Ethics, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Unfortunately there is a school of though around masks that equates personal liberty with the freedom not to wear one, regardless of the potential consequences. A selfish conception of what it means to be free that ignores our social connections with, and the needs of, others for personal desire and gain.”

60. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - Truth and Authority Under Trump

October 12, 2020 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, COVID19, Elections, Epistemology, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“The Trump virus found the ultimate weaknesses in organised human life: 1) we have such shaky foundations at the best of times for what constitutes as real “knowledge” that if you repeat an untruth enough times, from enough “sources”, it can seem just as “true” as any legitimate truth; and 2) that the notion of external authority on which our political systems are based is entirely illusory. As any criminal can tell you: that there are laws against doing certain things impose no actual limitation on doing that which is against the law. Criminals, by definition, break laws all the time. And the only differences between those who break laws who we call “criminals” and those who break laws that we don’t, are either that they have been caught or that we don’t really enforce the law.“

56. TIME ENOUGH AT LAST: Success and Failure During Lockdown

September 14, 2020 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Meaning, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Time, Work

“Before the lockdown came, we had borrowed three books from the local library. As I started the car engine to drive to work on Tuesday morning, one of the three books still remains unopened.”

51. SNAPSHOTS OF WHITE PRIVILEGE - Why It Is Not Enough To Just Not Be Racist

June 22, 2020 by DaN McKee in Black Lives Matter, Culture, Education, Gender, Identity, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism, School

“it is not enough to just not be racist (or sexist, or homophobic, or transphobic) in a world which has racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia built in to its very fabric. We have to do more.”

41. TO CLAP OR TO CRY FOR CARERS? - On The Importance of Being Able To Hold Two Ideas In Our Heads At Once

April 24, 2020 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, COVID19, Charity, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“By clapping, was I supporting the myth, the propaganda, and the lies which have put so many unnecessarily in harm’s way during this crisis? From the unprotected nurse to their dying patient, infected because they couldn’t stay home for fear of losing their job - each a victim not of Covid-19, but of our political system?”

38. QUESTIONS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD - Some Concerns and Queries As COVID-19 Continues To Spread

March 23, 2020 by DaN McKee in Work, School, Politics, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Obligation, Mental Health, History, Ethics, Epistemology, Education, Culture, COVID19

“the world has changed. And here are the questions arising to me as it does…”

36. COVID-19 AND PHILOSOPHY: Thinking Clearly In Times of Uncertainty

March 15, 2020 by DaN McKee in Culture, Death, Education, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, School, Work, COVID19

“Doing the right thing only becomes hard when we have constructed a world which puts embedded obstacles in the way of doing so.”

33. NO TO CHILDREN, YES TO THE PLANET - Should We Subscribe To Ecological Anti-Natalist Views?

February 24, 2020 by DaN McKee in Animal Rights, Death, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Religion, Student Writing, Vegetarianism

“Ecological anti-natalism is the position that procreation leads to more destruction of our planet and therefore more suffering so it is morally bad, therefore we should abstain from it. I shall argue why we should take this view into account.”