Thinking Beyond The Curriculum
Read More“I used to think it was the clowns who were the real heroes - speaking truth to power about the absurdity of power and mocking those in authority with satire and parody. But nowadays I think it might be the magicians.“
Is the memoir of DaN McKee's twelve years as a conflicted Philosophy and Religious Studies teacher out June 16th on Earth Island Books!
It not only contains some highlights from the last four years of Philosophy Unleashed, but shows how anarchist philosophy, atheism and a background in DIY punk rock has influenced and shaped DaN's approach to the classroom, as well as his approach to life.
As the blurb says: "'Anarchist Atheist Punk Rock Teacher' is more than just a memoir of some teacher you've never met. It is philosophy of education, of anarchism, of authenticity, and of life. Throw in some personal history, the deaths of both of his parents to deal with on top of juggling all the professional absurdities that come with the job (not to mention having to teach through a global pandemic), and you have all the earmarks of a biographical classic."
If you want to pre-order it directly from the publisher, do so here. If you want to pre-order it from Amazon, do so here. It's available in both paperback and as an eBook.
Believe it or not schools are on holiday again - it feels like the Easter break was only yesterday and yet, at the same time, it feels like it was months ago. We are, as humans, the worst judges of time. We’ll be back with all-new Philosophy Unleashed next week (June 5th). Until then - check out our archives or write something for us yourself!
Read More“Philosophers might ask: if value changes all the time, is there really such a thing as value at all? If we can’t pin it down - define it - then is it really anything? Is there anything eternally valuable and undeniably valuable to all? But even in philosophy value fluctuates based on who is doing the valuing. To some thinkers that question is important. Personally, I see no value at all in finding an answer to that question and would rather set my mind to other things.“
Read More“I’ve been thinking a lot about protest and rebellion the last week….“
Read More“The coronation of a new King is an undoubtedly historic moment, but it raises a lot of philosophical questions…“
As is tradition, there will be no new Philosophy Unleashed post today as this Monday is May Day, an International Worker’s Day in memory of the Haymarket Affair and the battle for an eight-hour work day (as well as the third anniversary of the e-book publication of my book, Authentic Democracy: An Ethical Justification of Anarchism, also available in paperback here). Currently the UK is experiencing the largest level of mass industrial action across a range of public sectors because, all these years later, we still do not have an appropriate settlement between employers and their workers. While we will be posting next Monday, during the coronation bank holiday, this one is an important philosophical opportunity to reflect on ethical employment and workers’ rights while also taking a day off in solidarity with all those striking right now in the fight for a better world. Happy May Day from Philosophy Unleashed.
Read More“When I sat down to write this post I was uninspired, yet now I have no doubt that I will, yet again, meet my self-imposed deadline and have a new Philosophy Unleashed post completed exactly when it is needed. Inspiration was there all along. I just had to find it. But what is inspiration?“
I’m off eating chocolate eggs for the next few weeks so enjoy a few Mondays without us while school takes a break. If you’re missing PU while we’re off for the holidays please enjoy our free archive of over 150 philosophy articles or, if there’s something we’re not writing about that you’d like to see, get in touch and write for us yourself! We’ll be back on April 24th with all new weekly philosophy posts every Monday morning at 6am.
Read More“When we refuse, as Rowley has, to acknowledge the institutional nature - the structural nature - of the racism (and misogyny and homophobia) that permeates an organisation we are refusing to fully grasp the nature of the problem, or fully see what such prejudice looks and feels like for those who experience it.“
Read More“To not comment on the state of the world today is never to be impartial. It is to implicitly state a preference - a partiality - for maintaining things exactly as they are, inflammatory immigration policies and all.“
DaN was delighted to hear Brendon McDonald recommend Philosophy Unleashed to Full Maron subscribers on The Friday Show March 17th and recommend our philosophical wrestling content. To help find it through our rather clunky archive system here are some direct links. Enjoy!
52. Wrestling with the guilt of wrestling
74. Cooperation is greater than competition
Two Out of Three Falls: The Trump Edition (from Mass Movement e-zine)
Read More“Can trust, once lost, ever be restored?“
Read More“Instead of asking what we are reading on World Book Day, we ought to raise the level of questioning: what are we reading and how is it changing us? What is it making us think? What questions are the book raising? Even if the answer is, to all these questions, not a lot (I am unchanged, not thinking about anything, and asking no questions), to ask them makes us perhaps realise that some books are like junk food while others are more nutritious.“
Read More“Don’t let the illusion of sole authorship fool you. Published writing has always been edited by many and influenced by audiences. If you want to read the unblemished, pure and unfiltered draft straight from the author’s mind and onto the page, read something self-published (like this blog…although I do tend to do a few drafts). Anything else you read, assume there have been drafts, edits, alterations, corrections, and the input of many. The author, often, is a group of authors. Dahl is no different.“
Time for our regular pause for the holiday. Work/life balance and all that. Do something you love. If what you love is Philosophy, and you’re missing PU this week enjoy, our archives or, if there’s something we’re not writing about that you’d like to see, get in touch and write for us yourself! We’ll be back next week - Feb 27th…
Read More“of course God - a being defined in terms of transcendence - would not be confined to one single point on a spectrum or one limited half of a binary. The very terms of transcendence that makes God God would necessitate God being beyond either a gender binary or the limits of a single gender. The omnipotent God responsible for creating both men and women in their own image, logic would suggest, must possess an image inclusive of both male and female (and everything in between).“
Read More“Deciding not to bore the student with Donald Rumsfeld’s treatise on known knowns and known unknowns, I instead decided to offer guidance from the existentialists. That is to say: no real guidance at all. What my student was facing, I suggested, was a living example of the sort of anxiety and despair existentialist philosophers suggested comes from our absolute freedom.“
Read More“Why complain about this in a philosophy blog? Because a perpetual area of philosophical inquiry concerns perception versus reality, and sometimes this coming apart of perception from reality (or reality from perception) often leads to questions in ethics too. I believe this problem - of the women’s teams of football clubs not sharing the same home ground as their male counterparts - touches on both.“
Read More“The following essay for Philosophy Unleashed was produced by AI. ChatGPT to be precise. I asked it to attempt to write a Philosophy Unleashed post on the topic of the ethics of using ChatGPT to cheat in school work, and do it in the style of me as author. I will present the essay to you first, then show you how it came to be. As you read, ask yourself the question: if I hadn’t told you it was artificially generated, would you know that a human being didn’t write this? And if you know my work specifically, would you know that I hadn’t written it?“