Tag: Activism
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A Sunny Nihilism?
by Kevin Currie-Knight ___ Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) chats with Wendy Syfret (VICE Asia) about her new book The Sunny Nihilist: How a Meaningless Life Can Make You Truly Happy. We talk about why the modern world relentlessly seeks meaning in everything, whether nihilism is a viable or liberating response, and whether/how nihilism is…
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The Interdependence of Activists and Skeptics
by Kevin Currie-Knight ____ It started as a casual conversation between myself and a colleague, but quickly went in a heated and interesting direction. She and I were talking about our teaching, and I mentioned some class readings and discussions my sections were doing on a particular issue that my colleague and I both care…
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Learning to be Tribeless
by Kevin Currie-Knight ___ I like to think that I’m a pretty distinct individual; that my thought is not easily swayed by the company I keep; and that I am relatively immune to thought bubbles. However, the year 2020 taught me not only that this is less true than I had thought, but also how…
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All Philosophy is Activist Philosophy
by David Ottlinger ___ I used to brag about the state of philosophy to people concerned about the humanities. Philosophy had fought valiantly on the side of the scientists in the “Science Wars” of the 1980’s and 90’s. Sociology, literary studies and anthropology may have, to varying degrees, succumbed to postmodernism and other such fashionable…
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Provocations
by Daniel A. Kaufman Though I voted for Hillary Clinton in the last election, I predicted that Donald Trump would win. Indeed, I was predicting his victory months before, when everyone was convinced he would lose. I even capitalized on this overconfidence, winning $160, on a $20 bet in which my challenger gave me 8-1…