Agora is a space for academics to draw on their education and experience in order to address contemporary social, political and cultural issues from a philosophical point of view.
The series is curated by Aaron James Wendland. Wendland is Vision Fellow in Public Philosophy at King’s College London and Senior Research Fellow at Massey College in the University of Toronto. He tweets @aj_wendland.
Does the rise of the Metaverse mean the decline of cities? – Max K Hayward, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
Why is it so difficult to face grim realities? – Quassim Cassam, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick
Why the right to bodily integrity entails the right to abortion – Hannah Carnegy, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York
Can you really do more than what duty requires? – Roger Crisp, Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Anne’s College, Oxford
Why public policy shouldn’t be guided by master numbers – Anna Alexandrova, Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge
Why Stoicism isn’t just about you – Nancy Sherman, University Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University
Is this the best of all possible worlds? – AW Moore, Professor of Philosophy at St Hugh’s College, Oxford
Are severe sanctions against Russia morally justified? – Avia Pasternak, Associate Professor of Political Theory at University College London, and Zofia Stemplowska, Professor of Political Theory at Worcester College, Oxford
What anger tells us about ourselves – Myisha Cherry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside
How refugees strengthen democracy and solidarity – Ashwini Vasanthakumar, Queen’s National Scholar in Legal and Political Philosophy and Associate Professor of Law at Queen’s University
Should consuming revenge porn be a criminal offence? – Helen Frowe, Professor of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University and Jonathan Parry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics
Why falsehood on Twitter spreads faster than truth – Aaron James Wendland, Vision Fellow in Public Philosophy at King’s College London and Senior Research Fellow at Massey College, Toronto
What Hitchcock’s Vertigo teaches us about love – Noël Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Centre
Why democracies need the notion of a loyal opposition – Jonathan Wolff, Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford
Why social science needs stories – Alex Prescott-Couch, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Tutorial Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford
Reimagining political philosophy – Sophie Smith, Associate Professor of Political Theory at University College, Oxford
The political risks of Big Data dominance – Firmin Debrabander, Professor of Philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art
What is romantic friendship? – Sukaina Hirji is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and Meena Krishnamurthy is Assistant Professor Philosophy at Queen’s University
Why nation-states struggle with social care – Alison Gopnik, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
Are Islamic philosophers critical of authority? – Peter Adamson, Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Can authoritarianism ever be justified? – Fabienne Peter, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick
Would extinction be so bad? – Roger Crisp, Professor of Moral Philosophy and Uehiro Fellow at St. Anne’s College, Oxford
What we’ve lost with the rise of TV streaming – Noël Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Centre
Can comedy change the world? – Kieran Setiya, Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Do gender norms enforce a divide between philosophy and literature? – Carrie Jenkins, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia
How much should we trust technology? – C. Thi Nguyen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah
Do we have a duty to read women writers? – Rachel Fraser, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Tutorial Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford
Why compelling narratives are the key to political success – Quassim Cassam, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick
Why drugs should be not only decriminalised, but fully legalised – Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and Michael Plant, Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford
How empty stadiums are killing the character of sports clubs – Jake Wojtowicz, Philosophy Instructor in Rochester, New York
What the New Atheists miss about the meaning of God – Adrian Moore, Professor of Philosophy and Tutorial Fellow at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford
Does the truth set us free? – Ulrika Carlsson, PhD in Philosophy at Yale University and writer for Axess Magazine in Stockholm, Sweden
Why social liberals are not moral relativists – Thomas Hurka, University Professor and Jackman Chair in Philosophical Studies at the University of Toronto
How to prevent AI from taking over the world – Ruth Chang, Chair and Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow at University College, Oxford
Why Donald Trump was the ultimate anarchist – Melissa Lane, Class of 1943 Professor of Politics and Director of the University Centre for Human Values at Princeton University
How should we relate to the work of “cancelled” artists? – Noël Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Centre
Why we have a moral duty to acknowledge strangers – Kimberley Brownlee, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia
Why Epicureanism, not Stoicism, is the philosophy we need now – Catherine Wilson, Presidential Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York
Why should we care if humans die out? – Tom Sinclair, Associate Professor and Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford
In defense of NIMBYism – Christine Sypnowich, Queen’s National Scholar and Head and Professor of Philosophy at Queen’s University
What US democracy can learn from Ancient Greek philosophy – Teresa Bejan, Associate Professor of Political Theory and Tutorial Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford
The moral conflict between environmentalism and animal welfare – David Egan, Lecturer in Philosophy at Outer Coast College
How liberalism paves the way for populism – Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morganbesser Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University
The politics of stupidity – Sacha Golob, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Kings College London
The problem with philanthropy – Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies at MIT
How Britain and the US became trapped in the nationalism of decline – Jeff McMahan, White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Why no vote is deplorable – Michael Hannon, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham
Why thinking as a team is more important than ever – David Papineau, Professor of Philosophy of Science at King’s College London
Why rebranding higher education as ‘job training’ is an offense to humanism – Zina Hitz, Tutor at St. John’s College, Annapolis
What the problem of moral luck teaches us about lockdown rule-breakers – Roger Crisp, Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Anne’s College, Oxford
Why Bertrand Russell’s argument for idleness is more relevant than ever – Max Hayward, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
Horror and comedy: screaming and laughing – Noël Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center
Black Lives Matter and the politics of violence – Alexander Blanchard, Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London
How coronavirus exposed our society’s ageism – Vittorio Bufacchi, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at University College Cork
What the pandemic tells us about personal identity – Kieran Setiya, Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
How bias algorithms perpetuate inequality – Susanna Schellenberg, Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University
Love isn’t about happiness. It’s about understanding and inspiration – Carrie Jenkins, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia
Leadership should be defined by consensus not coercion in a time of crisis – Christopher Finlay, Professor of Political Theory at Durham University
What does the corona crisis teach us about the value of work? – Lisa Herzog, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Groningen
Climate and coronavirus: the science is not the same – Eric Schliesser, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and Eric Winsberg, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida
Why does travelling change us? – Emily Thomas, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Durham University
Why human rights are not enough – Will Kymlicka, Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen’s University
Why extremism is a question of psychology, not politics – Quassim Cassam, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick
How the rhetoric of weaponization is undermining liberal ideals – Robert Simpson, Lecturer in Philosophy at University College London
What Jean-Jacques Rousseau can teach us about Twitter – Boris Litvin, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stetson University
How Christmas decorations reflect our obsession with adornment – Stephen Davis, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland
Is the quest for immortality worse than death? – Adrian Moore, Professor of Philosophy at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford
Why severe inequality is never justified – Philip Goff, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and David Faraci, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Durham University
The myth of the undeserving poor – Jonathan Wolff, Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford
Are drone strikes ever ethical? – Trish Glazebrook, Professor of Philosophy at Washington State University
Privacy is a collective concern – Carissa Véliz, Research Fellows at the Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics, Oxford
Why conspiracy theories are deeply dangerous – Quassim Cassam, Professor of Philosophy at Warwick University.
Millennials are fine with being vague about gender – Carrie Jenkins, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia.
Why our relationship with technology is destroying the planet – Aaron James Wendland, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Higher School of Economics.
Are human rights taking over the space once occupied by politics? – John Tasioulas, Yeoh Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Law at King’s College London.
Marriage is an unequal institution that belongs in the past – Clare Chambers, fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Fifty years on, is there any point in returning to the moon? – Tony Milligan, teaching fellow in ethics and the philosophy of religion at King’s College London.
Where are all the women in ancient philosophy? – Peter Adamson, Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at Ludwig Maximilians Universität
Should corporate executives be criminally prosecuted for their misdeeds? – Jeff McMahan, White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at Corpus Christ College, Oxford
Can placebo surgery ever be ethical? – David Papineau, Professor of Philosophy of Science at King’s College London
When is someone “Just Joking”? – Noël Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center
How to get on with your political enemies – Brian Weatherson, Marshall Weinberg professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan
Should humans be allowed to colonise outer space? – Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, and Agata Sagan, research fellow at the University of Warsaw
Climbing trees and raising children with Simone de Beauvoir – Jonathan Webber, professor of philosophy at Cardiff University
Human supremacism: Why are animal rights activists still the orphans of the left? – Will Kymlicka, Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy as Queen’s University
The problem with “post-work” – Jeff Noonan, professor of philosophy at the University of Windsor.
Why British jihadists can’t be charged with treason – Cecile Fabre, senior research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.
Like most secessionist movements, Brexit shows that breaking up is hard – David Miller, professor of political theory at Nuffield College, Oxford.
How meritocracy caused the college admissions scandal – Michael McLendon, professor of political science at California State University.
A philosophy for our age of outrage – Todd May, Class of 1941 Memorial professor of the humanities at Clemson University.
In liberal democracies, should minorities have a claim to different rights? – Paul Patton, Scientia professor of philosophy at the University of New South Wales.
The digital age could spell a workplace revolution – for better or worse – Liza Herzog, professor of political philosophy and theory at the Technical University of Munich
From golf to Grand Theft Auto, why do we love playing games? – Thomas Hurka, Jackman Distinguished Chair in philosophical studies at the University of Toronto
Why Brexit distorts the will of the people – Philip Pettit, L.S. Rockefeller University professor of human values at Princeton University
How can we teach objectivity in a post-truth era? – Simon Blackburn, fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge
Taking back control for real: the case for open borders – Roger Crisp, professor of moral philosophy at St Anne’s College, Oxford
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Why we should stop fixating on what Muslim women wear – Alia Al-Saji, associate professor of philosophy at McGill University
Content from our partners
In the post-truth world, we need to remember the philosophy of science – Timothy Williamson, Wykeham professor of logic at New College, Oxford
The backlash against “gender ideology” must stop – Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley
I was no-platformed. Here’s why it’s counterproductive – Jeff McMahon, White’s professor of moral philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Philosophy must be dragged out of the ivory tower and into the marketplace of ideas – Aaron James Wendland, assistant professor of philosophy at the Higher School of Economics
Martha Nussbaum: “There’s no tension in supporting #MeToo and defending legal sex work” – Aaron James Wendland interviews Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago