The current transgender debate polarizes Western societies like no other. Most strikingly, it divides some of the most vulnerable minorities – radical feminists and lesbian rights activists, and transgender activists. The Institute of Art and Ideas values dialogue and plurality. That is why we asked a range of thinkers, on different sides of the debate, to express their views on what philosophy needs to do to help us all better understand the transgender experience. ___Robin Dembroff___Robin Dembroff is Assistant Professor at Yale University. Their research focuses on feminist philosophy and metaphysics, with a particular emphasis on the social construction of gender and sexual orientation.People take gender categories and norms for granted. We see someone and reflexively judge their gender. We don’t reflect on how gender constricts our choices and behaviour. But philosophy teaches us to question our personal perspectives and cultural assumptions. Once we put these to the test, we begi...

A new study of nearly 800 academic philosophers provides support for several claims about their political views, perceptions of politics-based hostility, and willingness to engage in politics-based discrimination. The study, “Ideological Diversity, Hostility, and Discrimination in Philosophy“, by Uwe Peters (KU Leuven), Nathan Honeycutt (Rutgers), Andreas De Block (KU Leuven), and Lee Jussim (Rutgers), is forthcoming in Philosophical Psychology. Alvin Loving, untitled Their findings include the following: “Philosophers are predominantly left leaning” 74.8% of philosophers are left-leaning, 14.2% were right-leaning, 11% were moderates. Analytic philosophers in general identified as slightly less left-leaning than continental philosophers. Additionally, “participants also perceived their colleagues as primarily left-leaning” and “viewed them as more left-leaning than themselves” “The more right-leaning the participant, the more hostility they reported personally experiencing from colleagues, and, overall, the more left-leaning the participant, the less hostility they reported personally experiencing.” “Participants also perceived right-leaning individuals in the field… to experience more hostility than left-leaning subjects.” “Participants reported that they would be more reluctant to defend their own argument if it led to a right-leaning conclusion… than if it led to a left-leaning one” “There was no association between ideology and how often participants would be reluctant to defend their argument if it led to a left-leaning conclusion… These findings point toward an apparent stigma held by most participants, regardless of their political ideology, against defending right-leaning conclusions. Considered together with our other results, this reluctance to defend right-leaning conclusions may be the by-product of perceived or actual ideological discrimination. . .

The diary of Samuel Pepys, from 1660 to 1669, reveals a moral mess of a man living and thriving in a particularly messy time 

 Today’s morning concert at Wigmore Hall. The Chiaroscuro Quartet playing Beethoven Op. 18 No. 4 and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. Simply stunning. The post Chiaroscuro Quartet, play Beethoven and Schubert appeared first on Logic Matters.

Is the recent vogue for socialism sufficent to revive the moribund reputation of Nelson Algren, arch-poet of destitution and degradation?

[Revised entry by Jeffrey K. McDonough on July 26, 2019. Changes to: Main text, Bibliography] Although better known today for his bold metaphysics and optimistic theodicy, Leibniz's intellectual contributions extended well beyond what is now generally thought of as philosophy or theology. Remarkably in an era that knew the likes of Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, Hooke and Newton, Leibniz stood out as one of the most important figures in the development of the Scientific Revolution. This entry will attempt to provide an overview of the central themes...

Mike’s Free Encounter #4: Kobold Emissary on Drive ThruRPG. Free. This is the fourth in an ongoing series aimed to provide the overworked DM with ready-to run encounters. A tribe of kobolds is seeking to forge alliances with other tribes, to combine their resources and increase their chances of survival under the threat of stronger creatures. A blue priest of the Blue Lightning tribe is serving as the emissary and is undertaking the dangerous task of travelling from tribe to tribe with her small retinue. It includes a history/background for the encounter, a map, monster stats, new alchemical items and new poisons. The companion ZIP file contains JPEG maps (grid and gridless), the Word file for the encounter, the Hero Labs file and a PDF of the monster stats in character sheet format.

[Revised entry by Dag Westerståhl on July 26, 2019. Changes to: Main text, Bibliography, notes.html] Generalized quantifiers are now standard equipment in the toolboxes of both logicians and linguists. The purpose of this entry is to describe these tools: where they come from, how they work, and what they can be used to do. The description is by necessity sketchy, but several more comprehensive surveys exist in the literature and will be referred to when appropriate. To fully appreciate the text below, basic familiarity with elementary set theoretic terminology, and with the language of first-order logic will be helpful....

Jennifer Kling is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Legal Studies at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Her research focuses ... Read more...