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Max Horkheimer famously defined the social function of philosophy as a “critique of the establishment” (“Die gesellschaftliche Funktion der Philosophie,” GS 4, 332–351, 344: “Die wahre gesellschaftliche Funktion der Philosophie liegt in der Kritik des Bestehenden.”). Philosophy critiques established truth claims by revealing their immanent failures and by pushing philosophers to overcome them. But is…
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Academia is in an unprecedented crisis. Its relevance and function in the world are threatened by AI, disinformation, and public audiences’ willingness to subscribe to ideology rather than science. The survival of academics is threatened by budget cuts, the increasing number of PhD graduates, and the proportionally decreasing number of open positions. Its structural stability…
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One of the particularities of philosophy is that its own history is part of its praxis. Fields such as the social or natural sciences may evolve over time, yet they do not draw upon their historical narratives as a basis for validating their conclusions. By contrast, philosophers philosophize by reconstructing the history of their field…
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Est enim mentibus hominum ueri boni naturaliter inserta cupiditas, sed ad falsa deuius error abducit. “The human mind is inhabited by the natural desire of the true good–but a devious error leads it astray, to falseness.” (Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae III, 2) One of the twenty-first century’s defining intellectual achievements is its demand for moral…
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In a 2021 interview, Ian MacKaye, the frontman of the hardcore band Minor Threat, explained that the “straight edge” lifestyle—consisting in the rejection of drugs, alcohol, and other excesses—was initially based on practical considerations rather than rigid moral prescriptions. And indeed, MacKaye proclaims in the song “Out of Step”: “This is no set of rules,…
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Qui autem te per contemtum mundanorum et carnis mortificationem sequuntur, vere sapientes esse cognoscuntur, quia de vanitate ad veritatem, et de carne ad spiritum transferuntur. Those who follow you by loathing worldly goods and mortifying their flesh will be known as wise, because they pass from vanity to truth, from the flesh to the spirit.…
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A society’s mind, like that of an individual, tends to operate on two different levels. One is the level of preoccupation about acute, urgent issues–issues such as economical injustice, social tensions, or more generally, issues that generate contestation and incentivize political groups. These are the issues about which people get upset, and that determine the…
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In the twenty-first century, it has become common again—in the US as much as in India—to invoke religious reasons for political decisions, and to appeal to sacred scriptures or dogma as sources of secular authority. Religion is seen as a framework constituted of immediately applicable, non-problematic rules: prohibitions for food and sexuality, imposed social hierarchies,…
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Various ancient Greek authors and poets, such as Arrian of Nicomedia, Diodorus Siculus, and Nonnus of Panopolis wrote about Dionysos’s journey to India. Dionysos was struck with madness by Hera and left to err through Asia. He conquered various Asian cities, such as Nysa in the Indus valley, and finally returned to Greece with his…
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I know what it takes to keep my head on straightPutting shit in my mind and body is not the wayI don’t need the drugs, I don’t need a crutchMy mind is all I’ll ever need to stay in touch Uniform Choice – “No Thanks” A paradigm shift that has been reshaping philosophy, theology, and…
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