194. SHOULD THE STATE CARE ABOUT PRIVATE SCHOOLS? - On the Meaning of Independence

November 04, 2024 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, School, Teaching

“the conversation around VAT on independent schools being a conversation purely based around money, costs and affordability, instead of it being a serious public conversation around education and what a good education should look like is a conversation that fails to address what really ails the current state school system and what the advantages of going to, or working in, the independent sector actually are. “

193. THE WRONG CHOICE - Why Voting for Trump is More Than Just A Choice I Disagree With

October 21, 2024 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Elections, Ethics, History, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“Sometimes, when given a completely free choice, to choose any other way but one can be so self-sabotaging that there really is no choice at all. The 2024 US election is one such case. Whoever wins, we lose, but if Trump wins, what we lose is so significant we may never be able to win again.“

190. TWO STUDENTS, BOTH ALIKE IN DIGNITY - On The Illusion of Individual Exam Success

September 29, 2024 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

"Does a grade truly reflect the work and ability of a student, or is it merely a result of a context and circumstance over which the student is powerless?"

189. THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE - Still Haunting AI

September 23, 2024 by DaN McKee in Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Justice, Mind, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Student Writing

"if these AI machines were conscious then we would effectively be using them as our slaves; they do not have a choice in the matter and are also not getting paid. This raises important questions on the morality of the use of AI" A student writes on AI and slavery...

188. GRENFELL - On Individual versus Collective Responsibility

September 16, 2024 by DaN McKee in Data, Economics, Education, Ethics, Epistemology, Justice, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment

"The Grenfell Inquiry blamed everyone for the tragedy that took 72 lives, but if everyone is responsible, is anyone responsible?"

187. SHOUT OUT TO CHILDLESS CAT PEOPLE - Why I Still Don't Want Kids

September 09, 2024 by DaN McKee in Culture, Elections, Environment, Ethics, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

"In the wake of this summer’s comments from Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, about ‘childless cat ladies’ (and as a US citizen who is registered to vote in November and will be voting for Kamala Harris…who actually does have step-children) I thought it might be worth reviewing the sound reasons for my own decision not to have children and defending the decision of others who have done likewise..."

185. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - On Why This Anarchist Votes

July 03, 2024 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Elections, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“It is because I am an anarchist, that I will still be voting within a system I don’t believe in for whatever limited, but vital, changes I can bring within that system, to make life better for those it oppresses the most…“

183. I WATCHED EUROVISION - Does That Make Me a Bad Person?

May 12, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Ethics, LGBTQ, Justice, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Punishment, Television, War

“As a self-identified punk since my teenage years, I am very used to feeling shame about watching the Eurovision Song Contest each year, and even hiding the fact from people who know me…“

176. BURN IT DOWN - Why Elitist Institutions Can Never Be Inclusive

January 29, 2024 by DaN McKee in Culture, EDI, Education, Ethics, Gender, LGBTQ, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Racism, School, Teaching

“those who cling on to the old ways things were need more than an appeal to their personally liking the old standards to maintain them. They need to explain why keeping the bias, and the inequality and lack of inclusion those biased standards cause, is more important to them than making things better.“

175. SUING MADONNA - The Ethics of Honouring Stage Times

January 22, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture

“is Madonna’s late start really “unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive”? In philosophical terms: are such late start times, different from those advertised, genuinely immoral?“

172. INFLUENCERS - Why Violent Video Games Must Make Us More Violent

December 03, 2023 by DaN McKee in Culture, Death, Education, Environment, Ethics, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Social Media, Teaching, Wrestling

“When you speak to a classroom of teenagers about the possibility that playing violent video games might make them violent, you can immediately see the smirks and ready yourself for their knee-jerk defensiveness. After all, they are the smirks and defensiveness you, yourself, have given in response to the same suggestion your whole life…“

170. ON HEELS - Whatever Happened to Good and Evil?

November 20, 2023 by DaN McKee in Elections, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Wrestling

“When things are so awful everywhere all the time, they lose their impact as being awful. Exploiting children to bring us cheap consumer goods is no longer an outrage, it’s just good business. Taking a home away from someone is just what happens. Another bomb is dropped on Gaza, we hit another year in the Russian invasion of Ukraine - this is just life for those people. We glaze over. We don’t think too much about it. We share some more funny memes and watch videos of people injuring themselves online.“

167. THERE CAN BE NO JUSTICE THROUGH BLOODSHED - Israel, Gaza, Palestine, and the need for some different thinking.

October 22, 2023 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Death, Ethics, Identity, Immigration, History, Justice, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment, War

“Politics should not be a team sport. When it is, we’re doing it wrong. Usually because we’ve been manipulated by those who benefit from the division. It should never be Israel versus Palestine. My team versus yours. It should be ensuring our collectively assured mutual existence, always. Finding new ways to live together. Mutual aid. Walls and borders torn down. Sharing instead of seizing. Acknowledging wrongdoing and finding a way forward.”

165. JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS - Why I Wouldn't Want My Killer Jailed

October 09, 2023 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Education, Ethics, Justice, Mental Health, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Politics, Punishment, School

“One student was obviously unconvinced, and remained incredulous that I was advocating a world without punishment. The last question of the night saw them ask: “what would you want to happen then if someone right now, god forbid, ran to the stage and shot you dead? What would you want to happen to them?“

163. THE CLIMATE CRISIS CRISIS - Why The UK Government Is Failing Us

September 25, 2023 by DaN McKee in Environment, Elections, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“This week’s Philosophy Unleashed presents a very simple argument…“

162. PRACTICAL ETHICS - When Do Economies Become Unethical?

September 17, 2023 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Economics, Death, Education, Ethics, Justice, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment, School

“I am interested in the question of whether the practical compromises economies necessarily demand on our actions are, in fact, immoral, and whether such immorality makes these economies not only unfit for purpose, but unfit to such a capacity that we actually have a moral duty to replace them?“

161. THE GREAT CONSPIRACY - On Philosophy Classes and Dangerous Thought

September 11, 2023 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, Education, Epistemology, Ethics, Meaning, Mental Health, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Perception, Politics, School, Technology

“conspiracy thinking - the initial pathway that leads to conspiracy answers - trades on many of the motivating assumptions of philosophy as an activity: a desire to get to some underlying hidden truth beyond the superficial understanding of everyday life.“

150. YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN - Gary Lineker and The Myth of Impartiality

March 20, 2023 by DaN McKee in Censorship, Communication, Culture, Education, Epistemology, Ethics, Free Speech, Immigration, Meaning, Media, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Racism, School, Social Media, Sport, Television, Truth

“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.“

145. IT'S NICE TO HAVE OPTIONS - Existentialism and UCAS.

February 06, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Education, Existentialism, Epistemology, Ethics, Free, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“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.“

144. CHALLENGING PERCEPTIONS - Why Top Tier Football Clubs Continue To Do Women's Football A Disservice

January 30, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Education, Ethics, Gender, Identity, Meaning, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Sport

“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.“