Against “Gee Whiz” Philosophy

“Gee, Mr. Wizard …” “… <heh, heh> we’re gonna need another Timmy.” (my eternal admiration for anyone who gets that reference.) As in so many things in life, I find myself eternally situated between divergent spheres. This situation is most evident in my two great avocations in life, music and philosophy. […]

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Philosophies of Social Reform

Excerpts from How We Are and How We Got Here: A Practical History of Western Philosophy. British Reform Movement Significant developments in social philosophy and social reform took place in the United Kingdom in the 1800s. The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed a progressive series of laws beginning in […]

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An Introduction to Philosophy Book for Everyone

  I began teaching philosophy in 1998, and I love talking with students and helping them discover new ideas. Several years ago, I gave up on the mass produced introduction to philosophy textbooks. The offerings from the Big Four corporate educational publishers (Cengage, McGraw Hill, Pearson, and Oxford) are overpriced […]

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Decades Later, I Still Hate High School…

…but I’m really talking about the human perceptions of time. (Source: Piqsels) Yes, time. Yesterday, my spouse reminded me that this year is one of those decade-defined anniversaries of my graduation from high school. It honestly had never crossed my mind. I was too busy living in the present. Humans do […]

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Why #CancelStudentDebt Is the Right Thing to Do

I’ve taught university courses since 1998. Someone born that year could have just graduated from a university. Chances are good that such a person has graduated with a heavy load of student loan debt. That is more than unfortunate; that is morally wrong. Joe Biden promised that when he became […]

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Dewey and Freire’s Philosophy of Education

John Dewey’s (1859–1952) scientific orientation was biology, and he was influenced by the developments in evolutionary biology. His philosophical starting point was the fact that people exist within a biological environment. We create beliefs to adapt to our environment. Dewey created the term “instrumentalism” to describe the human activity of […]

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