Public Philosophy

Merit

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

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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Mortality

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

I am fairly certain that I watched a man die in the street in Memphis last Saturday night. [TW: disturbing content follows] I say that I’m “fairly certain” because, the truth is, I still do not know for sure.  In the past several days, I’ve recounted the events of that night to a few friends,…

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Risk

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Digital Humanities, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

In the January edition of the New Yorker, there was a story (“The Hit List”) about the so-called “Islamist war” on secular bloggers in Bagladesh.  It begins with the murder of blogger Avijit Roy: atheist, rationalist and advocate of scientific understanding.  (Roy: “The vaccine against religion is to build up a scientific approach.”) It is a…

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Utility

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Ethics, J.S. Mill, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching 0 Comments

Roughly 90% of the courses I teach are in moral and political philosophy, which means I am regularly given cause to lecture on utilitarianism. In my experience, almost all students arrive in the classroom as what I call “default utilitarians.” I say “default” because I think, in most cases, their’s is not so much a…

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Against Political Futility

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Democracy, Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

Yesterday, at a rally in advance of the upcoming Iowa caucuses, GOP Presidential candidate and frontrunner Donald Trump said (in his outside voice): “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters. It’s, like, incredible.”  My first thought was: yes, that IS incredible, as in not credible. It’s almost…

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Practice

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

Inspired by fellow philosopher-bloggers Adriel Trott and Jill Stauffer, I’m going to try to post every day for the month of February.  Every summer in June, I do the 30 Day Song Challenge on this blog and I am always surprised how satisfying I find it to write every day.  Of course, it’s much easier…

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Professional Philosophy: 99% White But 100% Anti-Racist

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Professional Academy, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

Since this is my first entry of 2016, I want to begin by noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of blogging for me here at RMWMTMBM. There have been some prolific years (2008-2010) and some lean years (2012), but I’m proud to have kept this site more or less active and, with a…

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Technology and Human Values

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Digital Humanities, Ethics, Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Teaching, Technology and Human Values 0 Comments

If this were a post on Buzzfeed or Upworthy or some other such listicle-driven site, the thumbnail caption would read: “You won’t BELIEVE the AMAZING things these COLLEGE STUDENTS did in their PHILOSOPHY class! Check it out!” That would be a 100% true description, but I will attempt to be more measured in what follows….

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Prayers for the Precariat

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson #BlackLivesMatter, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Weak Humanism 0 Comments

Tonight, on Facebook and Twitter, I posted that I was “praying” for Minneapolis, for Chicago, for #BlackLivesMatters, for refugees fleeing violence and seeking safety and, more generically, for anyone and everyone who loves justice, defends and protects the most vulnerable among us, who is under assault, in danger and in need of not only our supportive solidarity, but our active advocacy. This was…

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Men, Women, Gods and Machines: A Super-Generous Reading of Ex Machina

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Digital Humanities, Film, Film Reviews, Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

Over the last several years, I’ve steadily increased the amount of time I spend in my moral and political philosophy courses on the theme of “digital identity.” I’ve done so in part because one important cornerstone of my pedagogical practice is to use my courses to combat digital illiteracy– the single greatest vulnerability that will…

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