180. WHAT PHILOSOPHY COULD BE - Breaking The Norms That Don't Have To Be Norms

March 04, 2024 by DaN McKee in Academic Freedom, Communication, Culture, Education, Logic, Meaning, Philosophy, Perception, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“Philosophy is difficult. But it is only as difficult as we choose to make it. Rigorous thinking does not have to be alienating. It does not have to speak a secretive and opaque language different from the way non-philosophers speak. That is a choice, not a necessity. Nor too should academic specialisation and disciplinary complexity be mistaken as necessary components of philosophy. Navel-gazing is still just navel-gazing, even when it props up an entire job market. So too is self-interested gatekeeping intended to preserve a questionable system rather than make it accessible to the masses.“

124. WHEN DOING PHILOSOPHY ISN'T DOING PHILOSOPHY - Exams Aren't Everything

July 04, 2022 by DaN McKee in Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Mind, Education

“I wrote that phrase on the board: “Metaphysics of Mind”. I then made a lame philosophy joke: “let’s see if the innatists are right. You haven’t been taught any of next year’s content yet but do you already know what philosophy of mind is?”
The task they are then set is to simply “do philosophy” to try and work out what they think next year’s course will cover, simply from the phrase “Metaphysics of Mind”. I give them a blank sheet of A3 paper and ask them to fill it with all the questions, issues and answers they think they will be studying from September.“

REMINDER: PHILOSOPHY GETS SCHOOLED

June 17, 2022 by DaN McKee in Philosophy

The excellent new Philosophy A-level podcast from Simon Kirchin - Philosophy Gets Schooled - continues to put out new episodes, some of which feature Philosophy Unleashed’s DaN McKee. DaN’s on episodes about utilitarianism, war and peace, and eating animals, but there is also an excellent episode out about deontological ethics and Kant too. More are coming out each week and if you are an A-level Philosophy student they come highly recommended! Well worth a listen.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Philosophy Gets Schooled Podcast

May 24, 2022 by DaN McKee in Philosophy, School

Check out this excellent new Philosophy A-level podcast from Simon Kirchin - Philosophy Gets Schooled (and check out his other excellent philosophy podcast, Philosophy Take on the News if you have time too!).

Philosophy Unleashed’s DaN McKee is talking about utilitarianism on this episode.

83. SCHOOLS ARE GETTING IT WRONG AGAIN - It's Not The Uniforms, It's The Entire Broken System

May 17, 2021 by DaN McKee in Education, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Work

“There is a sense the wheels have come off. And so the idea is we need to "get back to basics". Administer punitive sanctions for loose ties, untucked shirts, off-brand hoodies, phones and earphones. Get the kids to stand up behind their chairs in silence when the lesson begins. Ask them to remove their coats if the temperature no longer requires one. The argument goes that if the students look ready to learn, they will be ready to learn...and conversely, their currently sloppy appearance must therefore be a sign that they are not in the right mindset to do well at school.“

78. TESTING OUR PATIENCE - Why Not Everyone Who Is Back At School Is Getting an Education

March 22, 2021 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Education, Economics, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, School, Politics

“As I sat registering my form of Year 13 students and preparing to go teach my Year 11s, I asked them how they were feeling about being brought back to school in a pandemic to not be taught anything new and just focus on revision for an upcoming series of assessments? Not a single one was happy about it. Not a single student felt they were being “educated” anymore. They were there merely to be prepped for probing, so that they could amass as many “data points” as the school needed in order to give them a final letter or number and rank their so-called accomplishments.“

64. THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS WORTH LIVING - Why An Emphasis on Exams Misses The Point of Education

November 16, 2020 by DaN McKee in Education, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School

“As I tell my students, the absolute worst way to judge how good a philosopher you are would be to take away all of your books and resources, isolate you so you cannot speak to anybody else, and set you an arbitrary chunk of time in which to answer a really big question.“

38. QUESTIONS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD - Some Concerns and Queries As COVID-19 Continues To Spread

March 23, 2020 by DaN McKee in Work, School, Politics, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Obligation, Mental Health, History, Ethics, Epistemology, Education, Culture, COVID19

“the world has changed. And here are the questions arising to me as it does…”

33. NO TO CHILDREN, YES TO THE PLANET - Should We Subscribe To Ecological Anti-Natalist Views?

February 24, 2020 by DaN McKee in Animal Rights, Death, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Religion, Student Writing, Vegetarianism

“Ecological anti-natalism is the position that procreation leads to more destruction of our planet and therefore more suffering so it is morally bad, therefore we should abstain from it. I shall argue why we should take this view into account.”

30. REBEL VEGETARIAN - Why It May Be Morally Right For Ethical Vegetarians and Vegans to Eat Burger King and KFC's Plant-Based Products Despite Their Non-Veggie Cooking Methods

January 27, 2020 by DaN McKee in Animal Rights, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Vegetarianism

“the recent story of Burger King’s “Rebel Whopper” has brought to the forefront of my mind the strange diversity of motivation which make people choose to cut out meat and/or dairy from their diets, and the resulting consequences, and potential for error, within ethical thinking.”

25. AN ATHEIST THAT FEARS HELL IS STILL AN ATHEIST - A Student Writes on Why He Can Still Be Scared of Something He No Longer Believes In

December 09, 2019 by DaN McKee in Death, Epistemology, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Student Writing, Religion

“As an atheist I have not practiced religion for a few years, however, just because I went from belief in God to a dis-belief in God does not mean that all the religious beliefs I held are overruled straight away, or in a simplistic and straightforward manner. This fear of hell stays with you forever.“

22. THE VALUE OF FREE - Why Are We So Distrustful of Getting Something For Nothing?

November 18, 2019 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, School, Student Writing, Free, Gifts, Economics, Improv

“Imagine giving a friend a brand new MacBook for their birthday. It is highly likely they will assume the computer is somehow broken, secondhand, or stolen before they would simply accept that you have spent that much money on them and expect nothing in return. Because when something that good is given away for free, for no reason, it makes no sense in a world where everything has a price and where we have been socialised into a worldview that says money has ultimate value and should be collected, even hoarded, as much as possible. To give something of value away for free is the action of a crazy person. Sensible citizens only part with something of value if it will bring them something of more value in return. At least, that is the story we have been conditioned to tell ourselves.”