142. THE INEVITABILITY OF FANTASY - Leaning Into Storytelling In Lieu of Truth
Read More“The more depressed you are the more accurately you see the world.“
141. THE VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA - Does It Have Any?
Read More“I was struck by the idea that social media gives us a living example of what emotivism really would be like sufficient enough to demonstrate why Ayer is wrong about normal moral discourse. Places like Twitter or Facebook really are just expressing ‘boo’ or ‘hurrah’ about certain issues and moral discourse is rendered meaningless there.“
140. SABBATICAL - On The Importance of Taking a Break
Read More“It shouldn’t be surprising to realise that, for an animal which literally shuts completely down every night and knocks itself unconscious as a means of essential restoration, stopping is good for human beings.“
139. A CHRISTMAS CAROL ONE YEAR ON - A Philosophy
It's a Christmas Carol one year later, and Ebeneezer Scrooge is doing a bit of philosophy which might undo his transformation…
Read More138. BANNED BANDS - On the Cowardice of the England Football Team
Read More“Last week it seemed clear to me that the England men’s football team showed a deficiency when it came to courage, and failed to act with virtue when told by Fifa not to wear their OneLove armbands in Qatar.“
137. NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS - On Our Obligation to Stay Informed
Read More“If I told a colleague or friend that I have never watched Breaking Bad or watched The Godfather, they might be surprised, even incredulous, but they could not call me irresponsible. If I told them I didn’t watch the news, however, it would be a different order of outrage.“
136. NO GODS NO MASTER-DONS - Decolonising Twitter Migration
Read More“The site of struggle here being the realm of social media might seem trivial to some, and online colonisation lacks the bloodshed and brutality of historical imperialisms, but as a living model it has been instructive of the sorts of behaviours we see offline too.“
135. UNLOCKING CAGES - Language, Asylum, Immigration and Abolition
Read More“When one takes a step back and realises that amidst all the language of ‘asylum seekers’, ‘detainees’, and ‘illegal immigrants’ what we are really talking about is human beings, it is hard not to hang your head in shame at the way our country routinely treats certain human beings.“
134. LIVING WITH GHOSTS - Haunted by Football
Read More‘I don’t believe in ghosts, yet I am living with one…‘
- OCTOBER HALF TERM 2022 -
Even though I’m not currently working in a school, I’m still working on school time and enjoying a half term break. We’ll be back with more Philosophy Unleashed next Monday, October 31st, perhaps for some Halloween-themed fun or perhaps not, depending on my mood. In the meantime, as always, if you’re missing PU this week enjoy our archives and, if there’s something we’re not writing about that you’d like to see, get in touch and write for us yourself!
133. THE HARD PROBLEM OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS - On The Difficulty and Need For Waking From Dogmatic Slumbers
Read More“I’ve been thinking a lot about consciousness this week. Not the traditional philosophical questions about mind and body, but political consciousness. Specifically Black Consciousness.“
132. BLACK HISTORY WITHOUT TEETH - On The Potential Epistemic Deficit of Black History Month
Read More“we need to first address with students core concepts like structural racism, white supremacy and white supremacist thinking, historical constructivism, critical race theory, colonialism, ideology, education policy and curriculum design. Without that, it will be very hard for the students we teach to place any of what they learn during Black History Month into a meaningful, long-term schema of knowledge.“
131. UNWELCOME VISITORS - When Jordan Peterson Came to Michaela
Read More“We should have more unwelcome visitors to our schools, not fewer. More opportunities for students to ask questions and poke holes. More academic freedom to develop an enduring culture of critique and scrutiny so that ideas are never accepted without a fight. If we are worried about the young and impressionable minds of our students, it’s time that we stopped them being so impressionable.“
130. THE TRIAL & EXECUTION OF SOCRATES - A guest writer reflects on Socrates and asks: 'is democracy a tyranny'?
Read More“The same law which produces justice can be unjust and immoral if interpreted by a tyrant. Tyranny in democracy is almost undetectable because the whole system is depicted to be busy in the service and security of people. But what if the people become a tyranny? Sometimes the fanaticism of the majority, or the sophistry and rhetoric of the minority, can take the shield of law and trample moral codes.“
129. STRANGER THINGS - Leave the Battles to the Children
Read More“I love the Netflix series Stranger Things. I’m supposed to. It is literally targeted directly to me: a weirdo child of the 80s…“
128. THE QUEEN IS DEAD - Long Live The King
Read More“As Britain comes to terms with the loss of its longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday, I was struck by the immediacy of transition from Queen to King. In an instance the previous settled gender of certain phrases - our national anthem, ‘God save the Queen’, prayers within the Church of England asking to ‘replenish her with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that she may always incline to thy will’, the pledges taken by members of parliament to ‘be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors’ - had to update and adapt.“
- NOTICE: The Association of Philosophy Teachers -
For those who haven't heard yet, with the help of the British Philosophical Association, we are trying to establish an Association of Philosophy Teachers in the UK - a professional body for teachers of philosophy to share knowledge, good practice, contacts, and support. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO THE BANK HOLIDAY FOR THE STATE FUNERAL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II THE ORIGINAL DATE HAS NOW CHANGED: The next (online) meeting of this group is scheduled for TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH at 16:30 and we want as many UK-based philosophy teachers involved as possible!
If you want to be involved, please email - admin@bpa.ac.uk - to get joining information!
127. REMEMBERING WHERE WE CAME FROM - on the privilege of travel
Read More“what it is we travel for today? What is the lack we seek to find? What is the need that makes us leave the comfort of our homes and brave the journeys beyond?“
- SUMMER BREAK 2022 -
As Alice Cooper famously put it: “school’s out for the summer”. That means Philosophy Unleashed is too! However - we’ll be back in September as always. Philosophy Unleashed will still return when the new school year begins on Monday September 5th despite my sabbatical from teaching. In the meantime, if you’re bored over the summer, or perhaps a Philosophy student starting in September itching to get started, our ARCHIVES have 126 philosophy essays on a wide range of subjects. And you can always write one yourself if you can’t find anything of interest! Enjoy the break - and see you in September!
Oh - and if you are interested in having philosopher, DaN McKee, give a talk at your school, or run an in-person Philosophy Unleashed session for students, he’s taking bookings now for the 2022/23 academic year so get in touch!
126. EDUCATED ABOUT EDUCATION - Anarchist Pedagogies and Learning From My Students
Read More“If I had planned an ideal last lesson for you (an actual lesson aimed at teaching you something new) what would we be doing and how would we be doing it?“