Issues
Issue 135: December 2019 / January 2020
EDITORIAL
Into the Cauldron!
by Rick Lewis
NEWS
News: December 2019 / January 2020
This month’s prizes! • News from the dawn of time • Google to be renamed ‘Skynet’? — News reports by Anja Steinbauer
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Should a Liberal State Ban the Burqa?
Brandon Robshaw wonders what the attitude of liberal states should be towards face coverings for women.
The Ethics of Discrimination
Frederik Kaufman asks what is and is not discrimination.
Protecting Academic Freedom
Dieter Schönecker makes five arguments for freedom of expression.
Dewey & Climate Denial²
Wendy Lynne Lee says consumerism really is the end of the world.
Cosmopolitanism & Immigration
Michael S. Dauber smuggles in some ideas from the continent.
ARTICLES
🤔 Emojivism 😀
Sally Latham introduces a moral theory for millennials.
Bertrand Russell & Common Sense for Savages
Stephen Leach considers what Bertrand Russell thought about common sense & reality – and how the one does not necessarily show you the other.
The Astrobiological Cat
Predrag Slijepcevic questions standard views of intelligence by thinking on an evolutionary scale.
Lies, Damn Lies & Santa Claus
Joe Biehl argues that we have excellent reasons to believe in Santa.
The Philosothon Phenomenon
Mark Smith reports on how philosophy is getting competitive in schools.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
Brad Rappaport writes an essay on the inventor of the essay.
Who Is The Worst Philosopher?
Each answer below receives a book. Apologies to the entrants not included.
INTERVIEWS
Michael Ruse
Michael Ruse is a well known philosopher of biology. He has written extensively on the relationship between science and religion. His latest book is A Meaning to Life (OUP). Seth Hart asked him about it.
LETTERS
Letters
Philosophy Fought the Law • Remembering a Great Philosopher • Failure to Relate • Logic & Logos • I-DNA? I Do Not Agree • Rossen’s Universal Knowbots • Thinking About Thinking About Thinking
COLUMNS
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
by Terence Green
Would Machiavelli Vote For Donald Trump?
Peter Adamson reads a modern Renaissance political manual.
REVIEWS
Galileo’s Error by Philip Goff
Raymond Tallis questions an argument for panpsychism.
Consciousness Matters by Oliver Leech
Nick Everitt wonders why consciousess matters.
Am I Dreaming? by James Kingsland
Danny Forde explores altered states.
The Twilight Zone
Alex Hooke meets Nietzsche and Sartre… in The Twilight Zone.
CARTOONS
Simon & Finn
by Melissa Felder
Chris Gill’s Cartoon
by Chris Gill
Guto Dias’ Cartoon
by Guto Dias
Harley Schwadron’s Cartoon
by Harley Schwadron
Loren Fishman’s Cartoon
by Loren Fishman
FICTION
Trump & Arendt Debate The Wall: Fictive Questions, Real Answers
Rayyan Dabbous pieces together a fictional debate using real quotes from Donald Trump, POTUS, and Hannah Arendt, political philosopher.
Proverbs for Engraving onto Imperial Monuments
by Daniel Galef