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Education and Pornography

Should teachers discuss pornography as part of a child’s sex education? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20042508.) Those in the ‘yes’ camp argue that pornography perpetuates unrealistic norms and children need to know this. Those in the ‘no’ camp think that such inappropriate material has no place in schools. The philosopher is in a unique position to strengthen the ‘yes’ …

Stephen Hawking is Wrong: Philosophy is Alive and Well

What use is philosophy, given the phenomenal success of modern science? According to many contemporary scientists, the answer is: no use at all. Most famous of the current anti-philosophy scientists is Stephen Hawking, who recently proclaimed that ‘philosophy is dead’.  The influential physicist and author Lawrence Krauss talks about ‘moronic philosophers’ (including Columbia University philosophy …

Michael Gove might benefit from doing some philosophy

One thing philosophers do well is draw distinctions. One of those distinctions is between justification and explanation. One aspect of this distinction concerns the scope of these notions. Almost all events can be explained (this extends even, perhaps, to the Big Bang, see: A Universe From Nothing | Lawrence Krauss). Why did the volcano erupt? …