A few years back the feminist philosophy journal Hypatia published a paper by Rebecca Tuvel in which she wondered, if one can be trans-gendered, why not trans-racial? So one has to either deny one can be trans-gendered, or else deny that… Read More ›
Social and Political Philosophy
SOME PUZZLES ABOUT RACISM
I’m not sure what racism is, but I am sure no one else does either. I know it’s a term of opprobrium, like ’sexism’ or ‘fascism’ or ‘colonialism’. But what exactly is the accuser accusing the accused of? A racist can’t… Read More ›
INDIGENOUS EXCEPTIONALISM
In early May of 1463, a full twenty-nine years before Columbus ‘discovered’ what was to the Europeans the ‘new world’, a boatload of Mi’kmaq from what is now Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, set sail – actually they rowed… Read More ›
DEFUNDING THE POLICE
There’s a movement afoot in America, one that predates the current fuss over the George Floyd killing, to defund the police, if not entirely then certainly by some amount in excess of just a little. If we want to reduce… Read More ›
A DEFENCE OF BIGOTRY
If I were born blind, I’d have no idea what colour I am. Or even that people come in different colours. I’d only know about it if someone told me about it. As it happens I wasn’t born blind. But even then… Read More ›
WHAT DIDN’T KEEP TORQUEMADA UP AT NIGHT
We live in a bivalent three-dimensional world. There’s left and right, there’s up and down, and there’s forward and back. I say ‘bivalent’ because even if you’re only slightly to the left, or you’re feeling just a little bit down,… Read More ›
HYMIE RUBENSTEIN
From a guy named Hymie Rubenstein, what would we expect? If the ‘Rubenstein’ isn’t a dead giveaway, surely the ‘Hymie’ is the clincher. An accountant, probably, but certainly a nebbish, right? Well, apparently not. As it happens Hymie Rubenstein is… Read More ›
STATUTORY RAPE AND CHILD SOLDIERS
For most of human history young men were expected to go to war at about the same age that young women were expected to become mothers, probably within about a year of their first period. Were our ancestors just mistaken?… Read More ›
THE HARMS RACE
According to John Stuart Mill, in a liberal democracy all is permitted save what is prohibited. And what can be prohibited must be demonstrably harmful. But what’s meant by harm? It can’t be just a setback of interests. Your opening… Read More ›
INDIGENIZATION
George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” He could’ve written as readily that we’re all victims, but some of us are more victims than others. Your ancestors were… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 