Issues
Issue 159: December 2023 / January 2024
EDITORIAL
Free William?
by Rick Lewis
NEWS
News: December 2023 / January 2024
A new (and problematic) use for chatbots • Monkey business with stem cells • Consciousness: Koch loses bet to Chalmers — News reports by Anja Steinbauer
FREE WILL
Spinoza & Other Determinists
Myint Zan compares different ways of denying free will.
What Is Free Will?
Grant Bartley wants to know what the problem with freedom is all about.
Criticising Strawson’s Compatibilism
Nurana Rajabova is wary of an attempt to dismiss determinism to keep free will.
Materialism, Freedom & Ethics
Philip Badger constructs a materialist ethical theory, with the help of John Rawls.
The Will Is Not Free: You Have To Earn It
Basil Gala on what it takes to free ourselves from our formative factors.
ARTICLES
Saying, Keeping Silent & Showing
Slavoj Žižek on Wittgenstein and Cancel Culture.
Torture & Ticking Bombs
Edward Hall is sceptical about this infamous ethical example’s usefulness.
Parrhesia & Doing Philosophy with Children
Maria daVenza Tillmanns considers the need for freedom of speech for children.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
Warren Ward looks at the history of a man who looked at the history of the world.
What Are The Limits of Knowledge?
Each answer below receives a book. Apologies to the entrants not included.
INTERVIEWS
Terry Pinkard
Terry Pinkard, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington DC, talks to AmirAli Maleki about how Hegel can help us make sense of modern social, cultural and political hot topics.
LETTERS
Letters
A Pool of Philosophical Reflections • Arendt versus Anti-Semitism • Entertainment, Ancient & Modern • Additional Maths Problems • Back To Reality • Both Philosophical & Vegetable
COLUMNS
William James (1842-1910)
by Terence Green
Philosophers on Football
by Matt Qvortrup
The How & Why of Consciousness
Raymond Tallis says the mysteries haven’t been solved.
The Discipline of Action
Massimo Pigliucci tells us how to practice forebearance.
REVIEWS
Debating Multiculturalism: Should There Be Minority Rights? by Peter Balint & Patti Tamara Lenard
Elaine Coburn navigates differences.
The Revolt Against Humanity by Adam Kirsch
Ian James Kidd responds to rejections of humanity.
Looking for Theophrastus by Laura Beatty
Chad Trainer hunts for a lost thinker.
Rationalism in Politics by Michael Oakeshott
Anika Vijapur revisits Michael Oakshott’s critique of rationalism in politics.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Jason Friend hacks your identity algorithm.
CARTOONS
Phil Witte’s Cartoon (1)
by Phil Witte
Phil Witte’s Cartoon (2)
by Phil Witte
Guto Dias’ Cartoon
by Guto Dias
Van Scott’s Cartoon
by Van Scott
Simon & Finn
by Melissa Felder
FICTION
Rudolph’s Revenge
Samantha Neave tells a good old-fashioned tale of Christmas scheming.
The Ides of March
by Robert Edmondson
The Enlightenment Philosophers’ Seven-A-Side Football Team
by Sarah Rochelle