Public Philosophy
I hope that philosophy can be of some public service, in helping us understand our world and respond to it in a just and sensible manner. To that end I try to produce publicly accessible and engaging philosophical work on topics that interest me. Mostly that happens at my blog, The Sooty Empiric. And if you really hate yourself you can follow my twitter for microtakes. But sometimes I put work out in other venues, and on this page I will gather together the results of this.
PodcastsAppeared on Two for Tea to discuss the nature of truth and self-loathing (related).
Appeared on Enter the Void to discuss logical positivism. Appeared on PhilosophyBites to discuss verificationism. Appeared on Mandatory Redistribution Party to discuss economic and political contributors of scientific fraud. Appeared on Mindscape to discuss knowledge, truth, and scientific method. Appeared on NOVC to discuss normative philosophy and the tech world. Appeared at the LSE Forum to discuss the life and work of WEB Du Bois Appeared on Ipse Dixit (wiith Remco Heesen) to discuss abolishing pre-publication scientific peer review. |
EssaysManaging Our Uncertainty in the Crisis (regarding dealing with uncertainty in COVID-19 policy, especially the role of political choice in apparently scientific decisions), with Richard Bradley
A Máscara de Rona (in Portugese, regarding the use of modelling techniques in COVID policy making. translated by Mateus Leite and Samuel Maia) with Richard Bradley. Immunity Testing: Our passport out of lockdown? (regarding the proposed policy of presenting immunity passports as a means of deciding who should be allowed out of COVID lockdown) with Richard Bradley A Response to Michael Walzer (regarding the Racial Capitalism thesis) with Olúfémi Táíwò. Ethical Life (just outlining my own ethical views, and trying to indicate how they interrelate to one another) Difficult trade-offs in response to COVID-19: the case for open and inclusive decision-making - Long Version for WHO (longer version for a World Health Organisation conference of a paper that appeared in Nature Medicine, making the case for more democratic means of making policy decisions in response to pandemics) with Ole F. Norheim, Joelle M. Abi-Rached Kristine Bærøe, Octávio LM Ferraz, Siri Gloppen, and Alex Voorhoeve |
Other MediaAppeared on BBC Radio 4 episode to speak about WEB Du Bois and how his views relate to the phenomenon of code switching. Appeared on BBC Radio 4 episode to discuss WEB Du Bois' views on the nature and role of art. Had a dialogue I cowrote with Aaron Novick ("Free and Easy Conversing") animated and put on YouTube by kind people at the University of Toronto Public lecture ("Why Do Scientists Lie?") I gave for the Royal Institute of Philosophy available on YouTube Spoke with Andrea With the Bangs about logical positivism, postmodernism, and the IDW and had a letter exchange with her about critical race theory (followup). Weg met de gedachte dat elke filosofiestudent Plato, Descartes en Kant moet kennen (an interview with me in Dutch, regarding my thoughts on abolishing the philosophical canon) the interviewer is Laura Molenaar Philosophy Rashômon (a short story I wrote, exploring political philosophies, some problems I have with the field, and some problems I have with myself) Public lecture ("Why Does Scientific Fraud Happen?") given at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology which looks not just at the causes of scientific fraud but a particular approach to anti-fraud policy pioneered by WEB Du Bois. Available on YouTube. |