Philosophy

Purposiveness

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Aesthetics, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive Comments Off on Purposiveness

I thought I might slip in a somewhat “technical” philosophy post, since I’m blogging every day this month and those of you not interested in such things can just hold on until tomorrow. Today, I’m going to say a bit about Kant, and a tiny little thing that has been nagging about his Critique of…

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Forgetting

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Digital Humanities, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching, Technology and Human Values Comments Off on Forgetting

I dedicate a significant amount of time in my courses to thinking with students about our “digital selves” and our “digital lives.” Most students– most people, for that matter– tend to think of the aggregate data that constitute their digital selves (social media profiles, Google searches, Netflix or Amazon preferences, banking transactions, medical records, online…

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Anonymity

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Codifying Civility and Collegiality, Digital Humanities, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive Comments Off on Anonymity

What difference does a signature make? I’ll assume that the phenomenon of trolling is one familiar to most of us on the interwebs, a phenomenon that is, in turns, infuriating, exasperating, unpleasant, and often genuinely hostile and threatening. There’s much to abhor about trolls– their pettiness and vitriol, their disregard for basic conversational decorum, their…

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Vulnerability

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching Comments Off on Vulnerability

Several years ago, I read a fascinating article by David Dobbs called “The Science of Success,” in which he discusses the influence of certain genetic factors on social/psychological development. Dobbs recounts the studies of Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg, who set out to test a dominant hypothesis of psychiatry and behavioral science known as the “stress diathesis” or “genetic…

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Torture

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Torture Comments Off on Torture

Several years ago, a friend and colleague of mine invited me to come speak to his class about torture. The class was a writing seminar organized around the theme of “citizenship” and my colleague was feeling (understandably) frustrated because, in his words, he “just didn’t feel like [he] had the tools or the knowledge to…

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Temptation

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Ethics, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, The Search for Values Comments Off on Temptation

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day of Lent on the Western Christian calendar. Many observant Christians fast or practice some other manner of self-denial for the duration of the Lenten season, commemorating Jesus’ forty days in the desert where (as recounted in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke) he was…

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Handy Guide to Tone-Policing

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Codifying Civility and Collegiality, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive Comments Off on Handy Guide to Tone-Policing

I won’t even bother with summarizing or linking to the most recent debacle in the Philosophy blogosphere.  Instead, I’ll just note that, commensurate with the rest of the nation, the discipline of Philosophy has a real problem determining between when one ought and ought not “tone-police.” I’ve said my peace (here) before about tone-policing and/or…

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Kids Today

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson #BlackLivesMatter, Philosophy, Politics, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive Comments Off on Kids Today

Exactly one year ago this month, I attended and photographed my first #BlackLivesMatter event and this image (left) has not left my mind since. This is a photograph of a student at my University. Christian Brothers University, who on that day (December 9, 2014) participated in an event called #WalkOutToChalkOut.  Students that day on our campus walked…

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Dear Student, At The End Of The Semester

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching Comments Off on Dear Student, At The End Of The Semester
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Merit

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching, Women and Gender Issues Comments Off on Merit

The first text I assign in my social and political philosophy course is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges entitled “The Lottery in Babylon.” In it, Borges’ narrator tells the story of his former home, Babylon, where (over the course of many years) a lottery evolves from being a voluntary game of chance into a mandatory…

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