The study of the origins and use of language.
“In a utopian world, free of hate, racism, sexism (all of the prejudiced ‘-isms’ and forms of offence one can fathom), what would people joke about?” Dear Arjun Sambhi, thank you for this complex question. First off: What wouldn’t we joke about? In fact, we’d probably be able to joke and laugh about much more […]
In a utopia, what would people joke about? Read More
“If I have come to the conclusion that the fear of death is illogical, why do I still fear death?” (Herbert Fingarette) Thank you, Dave Boyo Klier, for a considered question. Uncharacteristic though it may be for a philosopher, I think I can provide a rather straightforward answer. Indeed, it does make sense that you
If fearing death is illogical, why do we still fear it? Read More
Great question! Basically, your freedom exists in your choosing from a set of acceptable behaviour choices provided to you by institutions of power, namely, the state or your culture. That being said, try walking into your neighbour’s house uninvited and pulling some ice cream out of the freezer, and you’ll find that cultural and societal
Do you think all questions are valid? If not, what makes a question stupid? Thank you, Angela Geronimo, for this obviously valid and clever question. (While we could certainly differentiate validity and non-stupidity, I will here treat them as one.) Whether a question can to be considered stupid depends on what we mean by “stupid”
What makes a question stupid? Read More
Thank you, Austin Birch, for a great question. When I say “great”, I mean not only “fantastic”, but also “great in magnitude”, because exegesis is a huge concept within the history of philosophy. After all, as Whitehead put it, Western philosophy is nothing but a series of footnotes to Plato’s dialogues. To start, I’d like
Thank you, Alex Norris, for such an intriguing question! Even though your question covers several complex philosophical fields (metaphysics and modality, standard and non-standard logic, philosophy of mind and language), I hope my answer will be as clear and complete as possible. “There are things that do not exist.” This enigmatic sentence from A. Meinong
Are all things that can be imagined possible somewhere or somewhen? Read More
Thank you, Joshua Chawner, for such an interesting question! I liked this question because I distinctly remember being baffled by a Flemmish expression that is taken to mean the same thing: ‘you need to taste all the sauces’ (or: ‘ge moet van alle saze nekeer proeve’). I was baffled because the proposed principle is so
‘Don’t knock it untill you’ve tried it’ – really? Read More
Thank you, Ela Özcan, for such a topical question! Online trolling is a tricky issue, and your question needs to be analysed carefully for a proper answer. We need to start by defining exactly what we mean by trolling. Many use the term just to describe aggressive behavior online: trolls, here, are people who tend
Why do people troll? Read More
Thank you, Lewis Cornelius, for a great question! In response to your question (and it’s key to remember that philosophy often offers responses and not answers), I thought we could break it down a bit and see what it is we’re really looking for. This is certainly a question of ethics and morality, yet I
Is stretching the truth ever really okay? Read More
Thank you, Olivia Rose Brown, for such a pressing question! Fake news is not just fake; it is also a product of fabrication, circulated by agents or groups in order to deceive and manipulate for financial or political gain. And fake news is itself a contestable concept. For example, there is the question of whether
Does fact-checking solve the problem of fake news? Read More
