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.“

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…“

179. INFERRING THE END - Doom-Spiral or Fallacy?

February 26, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Culture, Economics, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“We had seen the signs that things weren’t going well. That the wheels were falling off a bit. And we had made the inference - this place was going out of business. And the inference was right.“

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.“

166. WHAT'S IN A NAME? - What The Trivial Can Tell Us About The Significant

October 16, 2023 by DaN McKee in Communication, Free, Gender, Identity, Meaning, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“if my utterly inconsequential change of capitalisation could not be easily noted and assimilated into the understanding of work colleagues, friends or family, then I could barely imagine what it would be for a far more important identity marker to be so similarly ignored“

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?“

159. TAKING STUDENT SILLINESS SERIOUSLY - Lightning McQueen and the Importance of Battling Deepities

June 24, 2023 by DaN McKee in Culture, Economics, Education, Logic, Movies, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, School

“Like garbage washing up on the shore of a polluted sea, the Philosophy classroom is often where a lot of these deepities come to rest as students, impressed by their apparent wisdom, share them with the one person they think will be equally impressed: their Philosophy teacher. Often those students are soon disappointed, even angry, when that teacher is not impressed at all and, instead, pops the bubble of the illusion and exposes its emptiness.“

153. PHILOSOPHY AND THE CORONATION - Questions Raised By The Crowning Of A New King

May 08, 2023 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Censorship, Culture, Free Speech, History, Identity, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“The coronation of a new King is an undoubtedly historic moment, but it raises a lot of philosophical questions…“

152. INSPIRED PHILOSOPHY - Where Do Ideas Come From?

April 24, 2023 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Obligation, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“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?“

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.“

137. NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS - On Our Obligation to Stay Informed

November 21, 2022 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, Elections, Meaning, Media, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Television, Technology

“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

November 14, 2022 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, Education, Ethics, Immigration, Identity, Obligation, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Politics, Technology

“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.“

122. DUPLICATING SUFFERING - Economics and Ethics When Experimenting With Animals

June 20, 2022 by DaN McKee in Animal Rights, Economics, Death, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Vegetarianism

“a possible case could be made for accepting certain, limited, forms of animal experimentation but not within the current economic system because it is structurally set up to maximise, rather than minimise, the possible duplication of unnecessary suffering due to prioritising intellectual property rights over the rights of non-human (and human) animals.“

118. SHOWING OUR TRUE SELVES - What Does It Tell Us When We Tidy Our House?

May 16, 2022 by DaN McKee in Culture, Obligation, Perception, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“If we all are running around like headless chickens to make things look nice whenever someone visits then that must mean that none of us actually live our lives in the way that we present to others that we do.“

117. ROE VS WADE VS PHILOSOPHY - Abortion and the Illusion of Law

May 09, 2022 by DaN McKee in Communication, Education, Ethics, Free, Gender, Justice, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Punishment, School

“one of the founding principles of Philosophy Unleashed is that it is a place to go “beyond the curriculum” and discuss things not covered by GCSE and A-level courses in Philosophy. Abortion ethics, as every student knows, is central to any current examination specification in either Religious Studies or Philosophy, and most undergraduate courses in Ethics will also cover it. So I will be careful here not to simply rehash the standard arguments most people will have already covered.“

109. QUITTING MY JOB - The Thought Behind Making A Change

February 14, 2022 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Free, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Work

“I told my form on Friday that this would be my last year at the school. I hadn’t been keeping it a secret, but there also hadn’t really been a relevant opportunity to bring it up.“