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The Problem with the Phrase “I’m Not Surprised, But…”

“I’m not surprised, but….” “It is hardly unexpected that this has happened, but….” I trust that such formulations are familiar, as is what follows:...
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The Metaphysics Behind Putin’s War on Liberalism

Radical Conservatives like Dugin want to change our view of reality This post was originally published by the Institute of Art and Ideas and is republished here with...
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The Cost of Rotten Speech: Knowledge, Reason & Democracy

The previous post in this series looked at how Elon Musk’s attempt to transform X (formerly Twitter) into a digital town square—grounded in absolute free speech—ironically...
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Mary Midgley and The Necessity of Philosophy

Mary Midgley has become an increasingly prominent name in recent years. This could be attributed to her passing in 2018, which, along with the...
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Why the News Can Never Be Neutral, and What We Can Do About It

Pragmatism can solve journalism's truth problem This post was originally published by the Institute of Art and Ideas and is republished here with permission as part of...
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Radical Protest and Moral Justification

Imagine a protest. What do you see? Perhaps you imagined a demonstration: people marching, carrying hand-painted signs, singing songs, or chanting slogans. (“We are the...
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All Rebels Risk Being Tyrants

This post was originally published by the Institute of Art and Ideas and is republished here with permission as part of the Blog of APA's partnership...
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How to Preserve Privacy in the Age of Mass Surveillance: Democracy or Technology?

It is obvious to most people that we live in an age of mass surveillance. The proliferation of digital technologies and the gadgets that...
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Kant and Democracy: Problems and Possibilities

Year 2024 was a historic year for democracy. It is estimated that over 4 billion people—that is, roughly half of humanity—voted in national elections...
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Civil Capacity in the Age of Burnout

It’s been an exhausting few months. Most days, I just can’t read or think about the news. When the latest story—someone in power doing...