Do We Have Moral Obligations to Robots?
...synthetic beings, granting them consciousness of self as expressed in their rebellions and will to live. Science and philosophy, however, have long wrestled with the meaning and survival value even...
Don’t Buy Into the Authenticity Scam
This past summer, a controversy broke out in the rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, leading to a consumer backlash about the dangers of authenticity. When Summerhill, a self-described...
The Uncertain Future of the Religious Left
The time seems to be ripe for a revival of the religious left. Granted, it also seemed ripe in 2013, 2008, 2006, 2004, 1990, 1893, and—for Thomas Jefferson at least—1822....
The Marketable Misogyny of James Bond
...vaguely utilitarian moral philosophy. Pussy Galore. Shaken, not stirred. And hurry, damn you, British lives are at stake! James Bond embodies a hyper-specific yet widely shared masculine fantasy of complete...
Summoning 17th-Century Scholars: Researching The Weight of Ink
...philosophy is nonexistent. In fact, it’s worse than that—I found philosophy absolutely intimidating. There’s something about the philosophical mindset that feels like the inverse of the novelist’s approach: philosophers look...
Edith Stein, the Jewish Woman Who Became a Catholic Saint
...saint. The second woman to earn a degree in philosophy from a German university, she insisted on a university position and parity with men at a time when few women...
Ancient Maps Are Mirrors for the Ancient Psyche
...of Russia and China have been sanded down to a smooth arc. A band of indigo ocean encircles the continents. There is a philosophy underlying the geography. There is a...
Suggested Readings: The Rohingya’s History, Descartes in Context, and Sleepy Jellyfish
...largest stateless community. The forgotten women around Descartes (The New York Times) by Christia Mercer When we think about modern philosophy, we tend to start with Descartes. But a look...
The New Censorship
It’s of the most famous (and misquoted) phrases circulated around the English-speaking world, from philosophy books to Pinterest: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the...
Facing Ourselves Online
Once upon a time, the “me” that I pictured in my head was the face that I saw in the mirror a few times a day. But that me has...