The Dangers of Digital Disobedience

Cyber-protest is cheap, digital disobedience easy. Democracy and the rule of law, however, are difficult and hard-won. The combination of a strong feeling that our cause is just combined with easy ways of making a point can blind us to the seriousness of breaking the covenant to stand under the law equally. Unless we remind ourselves just how precious the rule of law is, we are at risk of undermining the very basis of a free society by thousands of tiny tweets.

Article in latest fall edition of Literal magazine

The Shrink & The Sage: Arguing

Everyone knows an argument in philosophy is not the same as an argument in a car stuck in traffic on the way to the in-laws. It’s good to argue in the sense of providing a set of reasons, linked by a chain of reasoning, in support of a conclusion; bad to get caught up in a hot-headed fight. This is one argument, however, that I’m not entirely convinced by...

Latest column in the FT Weekend magazine (10/11 September)

Review of A Little History of Philosophy

Philosophy is like fish: best presented without too much adornment; hard to get just right and easy to ruin.

Review of Nigel Warburton's latest in today's Observer

The Shrink & The Sage: Self-improvement

The thought of, say, someone practising air guitar 24/7 should be enough to challenge any assumption that too much improvement is a contradiction in terms. When it comes to being better people, some progressions matter more than others.

Latest FT Weekend Magazine column