Welcome to PHILOSOPHY UNLEASHED

September 09, 2030 by DaN McKee

Philosophy Unleashed is about breaking free from the limits of syllabi and exam boards and allowing students and teachers to cast a philosophical eye on issues that interest them beyond the topics of an exam paper. If you want to write for Philosophy Unleashed click HERE.

All views expressed on the blog are those of the author of each post, and are not a reflection of, or affiliated with, any institution to which they may belong. In some cases, being philosophical inquiries, they may not even be the views of the author, but rather a “devil’s advocate” position they are trying on for size and kicking about, ultimately to reject. Consider this place an intellectual gymnasium where we “work out” our thoughts. And enjoy!

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199. DOES SANTA EXIST? - A Christmas Inquiry

December 17, 2024 by DaN McKee in Christmas, Culture, Epistemology, Ethics, Gifts, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“I pointed out that while their ‘evidence’ certainly seemed to point to the idea that none of them were being given gifts from Santa - at least not on the Christmases in question - it did not completely remove the possibility that Santa Claus might still exist…“

198. NOT DEALING WITH TRAUMA - Why We Need to do Some Work Before Returning to Normal

December 02, 2024 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Mental Health, History, Culture, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Racism

“And now normal is what happens when we live so long in denial about our generational wounds that they fester and metastasise into something ugly and, possibly, untreatable.”

197. ASSISTED DYING - A Reasonable Adjustment to Make

November 25, 2024 by DaN McKee in Death, Ethics, Free, Mental Health, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“one could even call it a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure one’s universal ability to end one’s own life is not unfairly denied to people just because of a physical disability (a protected characteristic under UK law). Not allowing assisted suicide is discriminatory to those of us without the physical capability for killing ourselves.“

196. ARGUMENTS DON'T WORK - And I Won't Be Able to Convince You

November 18, 2024 by DaN McKee in Communication, Logic, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

“I have been thinking about arguments. And the more I do, the more I think they don’t actually convince anyone of anything.“

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.“

191. WRESTLING WITH DONALD TRUMP - Why We Ignore The Wrestling Connection at Our Peril

October 07, 2024 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Culture, Communication, Elections, Epistemology, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Pop Culture, Television, Wrestling

"Trump is undoubtedly a monster. Trump is a massive threat to the kind of democracy that all Americans should hold dear. But he is using the playbook of professional wrestling to win the White House once again and is therefore a monster we are responsible for keeping alive so long as we continue to not take the influence of professional wrestling on politics seriously."

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..."

Association of Philosophy Teachers Annual Conference 2024: REPORT

June 15, 2024 by DaN McKee in Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed

Yesterday (June 14th) was a great day for teachers of Philosophy in secondary schools. Not only did SOAS release their Decolonising the Philosophy Curriculum Toolkit, but it was the 2nd annual conference of the Association of Philosophy Teachers (APT)…

182. MUCH TOO QUIET ON SET - Stepping on Eggshells as we All Work Under Capitalism

April 21, 2024 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Culture, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Pop Culture, Work, Wrestling

“This is not just Hollywood stuff. This is not just the entertainment business. This is all work under capitalism.“

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.“

178. FREE PALESTINE - On Anti-Semitism

February 19, 2024 by DaN McKee in Identity, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Racism, Politics, War

“As a Jew, I want to live in a world without anti-Semitism. I also want to live in a world with a free Palestine. These two ideas are not mutually exclusive, or in tension with each other. And we need to ask questions of motivation from those repeatedly peddling the myth that they are.”

177. REACHING ROCK BOTTOM - Why England Needs to Sober Up

February 05, 2024 by DaN McKee in Culture, Identity, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“I guess what I am really doing is posing the following thought experiment: do you think a sober society would have sat by and done nothing for twenty-four years as their country failed to meet even the most basic standards of functioning anymore? And does the fact that England is not a sober society give us some explanation as to why the English have seemingly done exactly that?“

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?“

174. THE TRAITORS AND EPISTEMOLOGY - Why We're All Floundering In The Dark About Knowledge

January 15, 2024 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Media, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Pop Culture

“It is epistemically wild to watch how fellow human beings construct seemingly viable theories of knowledge out of the flimsiest of observations and inferences.“

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…“

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