A blog post by the Department of Philosophy's Guy Longworth: "Consider an utterance by me of (1), with “she” used to refer to some salient woman: (1) She thinks that I was drinking a martini earlier...

A blog post from the Department of Philosophy's Guy Longworth:

In his Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, Immanuel Kant attempts to derive what he calls a metaphysic of morals—an experience-free and absolute grounding for the core principles of morality. On his way to that end, Kant expresses a nuanced view about the secondary aim of making one’s arguments and positions accessible for popular consumption.

Civility is a nebulous word. The dictionary defines it as “formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech.” More generally, it is often used as a means of belaboring what often seems like the increasingly destructive nature of public debate with its nasty ad hominem attacks and its displays of vitriol which are often out of all proportion to the offense.

Celebrity Big Brother recently returned to our screens, another programme in the long list that catapults people to the heights of fame. But has it always been this way? In this podcast Dr Angie Hobbs, Department of Philosophy, explains that in the past people were only famous for acts of heroism, bravery or extreme creativity. How did people gain fame and notoriety before the advent of reality television and the internet? What are the views of philosophers such as Plato?

A short video from Dr Angie Hobbs (Department of Philosophy) on why Britain needs philosophy right now.