PHILOSOPHERS' CORNER

Misogyny and Gender Inequality

All over the world, men enjoy power and privilege relative to women. It’s always been that way, and probably always will be. But one could also have more hope, given that in some countries women have made a lot of progress.

[AUDIO] What Constitutes Consent?

California law defines sexual consent as "Yes means Yes". In other words, the consent is "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity," that can be revoked at any time. However, does this definition properly capture what constitutes consent?

[AUDIO] Do the Privileged Have Special Obligations?

Most of us recognize that, due to the circumstances we were born into, we are given certain advantages or disadvantages in life that others do not have. However, the further question of whether those with privilege have special obligations to the disadvantaged remains controversial.

Will Innovation Kill Us?

Arguably, the single greatest threat to our continued existence on this planet is climate change. And we would not be facing this threat were it not for human ingenuity. After a mere two centuries or so of industrialization, our innovative activity on this planet has produced such a quantity of greenhouse gases that we are perilously close to the tipping point when climate change will accelerate on its own power, and nothing we do anymore will be able to stop it. Provided, that is, we don’t have a global nuclear meltdown first.

What is a Culture of Victimhood?

A few thoughts about so-called cultures of victimhood and whether it's a new, old, or even real phenomenon, prompted partly by  recent "debates" over trigger warnings, but also by our recent episode on the Changing Face of Feminism.  I put "debates" in quotes like that because  I think of the debates more as heated exchanges.  Way too  much talking past each other and way too little sympathetic listening has gone on.