Philosophy and Culture

“Should we double down on generating controversy, or should we watch what we say? And if the latter, can we still participate in an open inquiry?”. . .
“Philosophers who ‘just raise the tough questions’ should reflect the discipline’s tradition of open inquiry back on themselves and consider the purpose that specific ‘tough questions,’ or even the call for philosop..

Light Topics, Real Philosophy: Some Lessons from Writing about the Philosophy of Cover Songs (guest post)

“Aristotle or Kant simply could not have thought about music this way.” (more…)

Philosophers on the Internet

In today’s irony report, Daily Nous editor Justin Weinberg, who mere days ago announced he would be taking a break from the website, has returned to it to post about, of all things, philosophers on the internet. (more…)

Which Philosophical Problems Should Be Made Into Movies or TV Shows?

There are already lots of philosophical fictional movies and television shows, but not as many as there could be, and perhaps not as many as there should be. (more…)

In Which We Overthink “Frightening”

Halloween is coming up, a holiday about delighting in frightening, about fear and frivolity, about terrors and treats. In past years, Daily Nous has offered some opportunities for philosophers to have fun with Halloween. This year, let’s ruin it… (more…)

Of Philosophy and Dogs

Apparently today is International Dog Day. This means we have an excuse to talk about dogs. (more…)

Philosophy Majors Nominated for an Oscar

Kenny and Keith Lucas, aka The Lucas Brothers, both philosophy majors at The College of New Jersey (prior to both attending law school, both dropping out just before graduation, and then pursuing a joint career in comedy), have been nominated for the 2021 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with Will Berson and Shaka King, for Judas and the Black Messi..

More Philosophy Songs

“Knowledge of the world relies / On what we can see / But experience implies / Nothing yet to be.”
(more…)

Philosophers Find They Have a New Fan on Social Media: MC Hammer

“Why Science Needs Philosophy,” a multi-authored opinion piece published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), got a boost last Friday when rapper MC Hammer shared it with his 3.2 million followers on Twitter. (more…)

Major Videogame Developer Partners with Philosophy Department

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, currently one of the world’s most popular video games, and Unreal Engine, a virtual 3D design tool, has partnered with the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University (MSU) in Russia. (more…)

Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance

A good number of very smart, interesting, and creative people signed onto an open letter, published in Harper’s this week, applauding “wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society” while lamenting “the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.” (more…)

New Voice in the Philosophy-Themed Music Scene

Philosophy-themed music is not the most popular genre, but it shares a lot of the same features of any type of music. (more…)

Philosophy Haiku 2019 (guest post by Eliran Haziza)

Eliran Haziza, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Toronto, wrote a haiku-detecting program and ran it on philosophy texts. (more…)

Philosopher-Rocker Turns to Music for Kids

You may know Daniel Groll, associate professor of philosophy at Carelton College, for his work in biomedical ethics. You may also know him as the singer for The Counterfactuals, an indie rock band that is 3/4 philosophers. (more…)

Philosophy and Skiing

A new project that combines documentary film-making, extreme skiing, and philosophy, has been seeing some success.

(more…)

A Flowchart of Philosophical Novels and Stories

Ben Roth, a philosopher who teaches in the Harvard College Writing Program, has put together a kind of flowchart recommending philosophical novels and stories. (more…)

Philosophical Films

C. Thi Nguyen (Utah Valley University), asked for suggestions of philosophical films on Twitter recently, and got a number of good responses. (more…)

The Today Show Reports on an APA Meeting… in 1990

Back in 1990, the Today Show aired a segment on a meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA), taking place in New Orleans.

(more…)

Game of Thrones Quotes for Academic Contexts

Game of Thrones, a well-acted and beautifully filmed sprawling television fantasy of political ambition, royal lineage, revenge, zombies, surprising deaths, random magic, and dragons—entertaining and big but also silly and superficial—is ending tonight. People can’t stop talking about it.

(more…)

The Philosophy Haiku of Kris McDaniel

Philosopher Kris McDaniel, who will be moving shortly from Syracuse University to the University of Notre Dame, writes philosophy haiku. (more…)

Philosophical Short Stories

Do you know of any particularly philosophical short stories? (more…)

Developments at the Royal Institute of Philosophy

The Royal Institute of Philosophy (RIP), a charitable organization based in London dedicated to the advancement of philosophy, has announced that it has several new officers. (more…)

Crying “Crying Wolf”

Suppose that instead of one shepherd boy, there are a few dozen. They are tired of the villagers dismissing their complaints about less threatening creatures like stray dogs and coyotes. One of them proposes a plan: they will start using the word “wolf” to refer to all menacing animals. They agree and the new usage catches on. For a while, the villagers are indeed m..

Daily Nous